Guwahati: The culture and heritage of the Northeast will literally find a new platform - Guwahati railway station.
Artwork by award-winning art director Nuruddin Ahmed will provide a facelift to the railway station.
Northeast Frontier Railways has asked Ahmed to beautify the railway station with paintings, murals and dioramas depicting local culture and heritage.
"We have started working on the project and set a target to complete it before Durga Puja," Ahmed, a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, told The Telegraph on Sunday.
"We will try to represent the cultural way of life of not only various communities in Assam but also of the entire Northeast," he said.
Ahmed said two dioramas showcasing the masks of Assam and Xattriya dance are nearing completion.
He said there will be 14 models showing handloom and textiles, wildlife, dance forms like Bihu , jhumur and bagrumba and traditional attire and musical instruments of the region, to give a new look to the railway station.
"There will be murals depicting daily village life, fishing, farming and festivals of Assam as well as other northeastern states," said Ahmed.
He has so far worked in more than 100 films and has bagged several awards as an art director. He has also worked as an art director for several mobile theatre groups since 1976.
The total cost of the project will be between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh, he said.
Besides beautification of the railway station, the dioramas and murals will also give passengers waiting to catch the train an insight into the culture and traditions of different communities of the region.
Guwahati railway station is the biggest in the Northeast and receives a footfall of over 40,000 passengers every day.
It is, therefore, one of the best places to depict the cultural diversity of this land.
Ahmed said he was also working on another project to create three-dimensional replicas of various monuments, wildlife and dance forms of the state at Dibrugarh airport.
"At Dibrugarh airport we will be creating replicas of Rangghar, Kareng Ghar, maidam (burial ground of Ahom kings) and Tilinga Mandir," he said.
