New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) A global heritage body is hosting a series of lectures, starting Monday, to promote preservation and documentation of the country's industrial legacy, including the railways and the metallurgical heritage.

Scholars from India and abroad will take part in a range of sessions that will be held online over November and December, and these are being hosted by the India chapter of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).

Also Read | Shirur Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra: Sitting MLA, Candidates For Assembly Elections 2019, Results And Winners.

ICOMOS is a non-government organisation responsible for supporting UNESCO in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

"Heritage is not just about huge palaces and old temples and mosques that we see everywhere around, but even small things like an old railway station, a rotary dial phone or an old printing press that we don't see often now, are our legacy too, and must be preserved to tell where we came from," ICOMOS India vice president Rima Hooja told PTI.

Also Read | Odisha BSE 10th Result 2019 Not Today: Class 10 Board Exam Scores to Be Declared Soon Online at bseodisha.ac.in; Here's List of Website to Check Marks.

The purpose of this lecture series is exactly that, and a number of scholars are slated to speak during the course of the event, Hooja said.

The National Scientific Committee on Industrial Heritage (NSC-IH) and ICOMOS India have lined up eight thematic sessions, ranging from industrial heritage to railway heritage, and mines and metallurgical wealth to company archives.

"As we progress, we make new things, but these heritage elements, like our built heritage, are our link to the past. And, we if try to sever that link in the present while forging a future, it will destroy the balance, and rob us off of our architectural, industrial and culture wealth handed down to us over generations," she said.

"We don't have to cannibalise our past, to build a future, both can co-exist harmoniously," Hooja added.

Moulshri Joshi, coordinator of NSC-IH, ICOMOS India, said that at the opening session on Monday, two foreign scholars will talk about industrial heritage of Nepal and Indonesia.

"Subsequently, the sessions on aspects of industrial heritage in India will be held. A senior official from the Indian Railways will give a talk on importance of preservation of railway heritage. Another lecture will be on an ancient zinc mine in Rajasthan, and also one on industrial archives, and a few more sessions," she said.

Hooja, an archaeologist, historian and author, said the idea is to shine a spotlight on the industrial heritage and raise awareness among people, especially the youth, so they can understand why it is important to preserve them amid the onslaught of modernity, rapid urbanisation and short-sighted development.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)