Kids’ Visit To City Museum Marks CIL World Heritage Day
Mangaluru: Centre for Integrated Learning, a city-based NGO working in the field of alternative education observed the World Heritage Day in a meaningful manner by organising a visit for school children to Shreemanthibai Mirajkar Heritage Museum at Bejai in the city on Tuesday. The visit was intended to kindle a sense of pride and belongingness of our culture and heritage among the students who included tiny tots and the high school drawn from various schools of the city.
The students were initially briefed regarding the significance of culture and heritage by senior journalist Srinivasan Nandagopal who opined that it is necessary to understand the past to develop the future. He explained that not just being proud of our culture, traditions and heritage, our monuments also describe the glorious past of our country which had expertise in all fields including art, sculpture, architecture, science and medicine. Heritage of a country is not just for the one’s living in there but can also boost the economy through its tourism potential, he added.
The uniqueness of the event was that the students walked through the lanes and bylanes of the city from Bejai-Kapikad to the Mirajkar Museum, trying to explore the old houses and structures which told the story of the past. Interestingly, the officials of the Museum were surprised by the visit of the children as one of the officials lamented that most of the Mangaloreans still do not know that there is such a Museum which can render a wonderful learning experience in the city.
Centre for Integrated Learning has been striving to evolve strategies and interventions that add value to the present education system and preserving and conserving our Heritage has been one of its primary focus. For the first time in 2009, the organisation envisaged a concept of “Heritage Walk” from the District Court to the Old Port, traversing through a treasure of heritage sites including the St Aloysius Chappel, KMC – the first private medical college in India, Milagres Church, Wenlock and Lady Goshen Hospitals, Government College (now University College), the Centre or Nehru Maidan, St Paul’s Church and the Deputy Commissioner’s Office.
