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| May 17, 2010 | Century-old heritage theatre in Shimla a major tourist draw | | Shimla: A larger number of domestic and foreign tourists are thronging the over a century-old Gaiety Theatre at Shimla that has been thrown open recently. Built by the British in 1889, in Victorian gothic style and said to be a replica of the Royal Albert Hall of London, it remained closed over six years for renovation. The prime attraction of this vintage theatre is its unique Gothic architecture.
Though the renovation work completed on June 25 2009. But the enthusiastic people
had to wait for some more time since it's been thrown open for public in this
April only. The Language and Cultural Department of Himachal Pradesh took the
initiative to restore it historic beauty and opened it for the public. The authentic
colonial architectural beauty has been retained. "After restoration, the government
of Himachal Pradesh is very pleased to open it to the public because the tourists
coming from international sector, they are having a keen interest to see such
a theatre, which is a real replica of the London theatre. When they find the great
architectural work and workmanship on this particular building, they are very
happy to see it," said Prem Sharma, Director, Language and Culture Department
of Himachal Pradesh. Renowned Bollywood and Indian theatre actors, such as Prithvi
Raj Kapoor, Pran Sikand, Naseerudin Shah, Prem Chopra, Anupam Kher, Shashi Kapoor
and Jennifer Kendall and Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling have performed at this
historical theatre. London's Gaiety theatre was renovated several times, but was
closed from the beginning of World War II in 1939 and never reopened after having
suffered damage by bomb during the hostilities. Since its reopening, a large number
of domestic and foreign visitors have visited to see the aesthetic beauty of this
theatre. "Well, it's quite exciting to see such an old theatre so beautifully
restored here because I had read about it before I came here on the Internet and
I had hoped to find it and see it. So when I get home, I will tell people about
it," said Katherine Hardy, a tourist from London. The visitors have to pay a nominal
amount as entry fee. For Indians it is rupees 10 while for the foreign tourists
- rupees 25 (54 US cents) without camera and rupees 50 with camera. "This theatre
is quite interesting. I came here earlier also but at that time, it was not open.
Today, I have seen the beautiful historic theatre from inside and it is very good
that they have made it open for public by charging a nominal amount of entrance
fee," said Roshan Hablani, a tourist from Bhilai, Chattisgarh.
Sources in the Union Home Ministry on Monday feared that the casualties of the IED blast in
Chhattisgarh's Dantewada is likely to go high as the rescue and relief operations have been
hampered due to bad light. Security forces have launched a major rescue operation. On
Monday evening in one of the worst attack on civilians the Maoists blew up a private bus
killing over 30 people. The bus was on its way from Dantewada to Sukma when the incident
took place near Chingawaram, over nine kilometers from Sukma. The bus-CG17 SS 9295
was carrying 20 special police officers (SPO) and over 30 civilians.The SPOs were
on their way to participate in a special recruitment drive. The latest blast incident
has taken place a day after the Maoists called for a 48 hour shutdown in five
states-Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. The sources
said the attack might have been a pre -planned one. Reportedly, the Maoists also
fired on the bus after the blast to ensure that nobody stays alive. | |
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