Railway organises DHR literature festival to celebrate Himalayan heritage
Guwahati/Darjeeling, May 19 The Northeast Frontier Railway successfully organised the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Literature Festival 2026 in line with its vision of bringing together the industrial heritage of the UNESCO World Heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the rich oral and literary traditions of the Himalayan region, officials said on Tuesday.
Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that the four-day festival, held from May 15 to 18, was organised by the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in collaboration with the creative collective Poets of Community.
The grand valedictory and certificate distribution ceremony was held on Monday, celebrating the enthusiastic participation of students, youth, writers, artists, and members of the local community.
Sharma said that, through a vibrant blend of literature, music, storytelling, and community interaction, the festival created a meaningful cultural platform that highlighted the region's diverse artistic and literary heritage.
The events were organised across Kurseong and Darjeeling and witnessed active participation from writers, artists, students, and literature enthusiasts from different parts of the region.
On the opening day at Victoria Boys' School in Kurseong, noted author and Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee alumna Megha Mittal conducted an engaging workshop titled "Why Poetry Is Boring?", encouraging students to explore poetry as a contemporary and expressive art form.
The second day featured the unique "Rail & Rhythm: The Open-Deck Experience", which combined a scenic steam locomotive journey aboard the heritage Toy Train with live musical performances by regional artists.
The Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer said that the programme was followed by an interactive folklore and storytelling session at Café De Central in Kurseong, celebrating the oral traditions and folk narratives of the Himalayan communities.
The concluding day at Cafe House in Darjeeling featured multilingual literary performances in Nepali, English, and Hindi, with writers and artists reflecting on the cultural heritage, identity, and contemporary realities of the Himalayan region through poetry, storytelling, and spoken-word presentations.
To mark the successful conclusion of the festival, a special certificate distribution ceremony was organised on May 18.
Certificates of appreciation and participation were presented to children, students, performers, and community members who actively contributed to the workshops, storytelling sessions, literary interactions, and cultural performances during the four-day festival.
Sharma said that the initiative reflects the continued commitment of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the Northeast Frontier Railway towards preserving the cultural heritage of the hills while encouraging creative engagement among the younger generation and local communities.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
— IANS
Reader Comments
It's heartening to see the Northeast Frontier Railway going beyond just operations and engaging with the community. But I wish the festival had been promoted more widely – I only got to know about it after it ended! Many literature lovers in the hills would have loved to participate. Still, kudos to the organisers for bringing together poetry, folklore, and the Toy Train. Hope this becomes an annual event.
As someone who grew up in Kurseong, this makes me very proud. The DHR is our identity, and seeing it host a literature festival that celebrates Nepali, English, and Hindi poetry is fantastic. The workshop titled "Why Poetry Is Boring?" sounds like just the thing to get kids interested. We need more such events in the hills to preserve our oral traditions. Great job by all involved!
Lovely to see heritage being celebrated in such a creative way. I visited the DHR last year and it's truly a gem. A literature festival on a UNESCO World Heritage railway is a unique concept. Would love to see more collaborations like this across India – maybe the Nilgiri Mountain Railway or the Kangra Valley Railway could do something similar? Well done, NFR! 👏
It's refreshing to see the Indian Railways doing something cultural for a change! Usually it's all about delays and waits, but this is genuinely thoughtful. The multilingual aspect – Nepali, English, Hindi – shows real respect for the region's diversity. I just hope the certificate distribution wasn't all bureaucratic; the real success is in the memories created during those storytelling sessions and the music on the train.
S Siddharth J