2022
Moments from The Great India Heritage Walk13 Cities ๐ฐ๏ธ14 Locations ๐ฃ๏ธ
A hundred Google Local Guides ๐
Multiple Local Guides Communities ๐ค
1 Day ๐
1 Common Event ๐ค
1 Nation ๐ฎ๐ณ
- even these numbers would not precisely be able to describe the significance of the 'GREAT INDIAN HERITAGE WALK' - the first ever national Google Maps Local Guides meetup event that took place in the country of India, last Sunday, just 3 days ahead of the holy nationwide festival of Diwali! ๐
This country has shown remarkable interest about participation in the Google Local Guides program, a platform where a 'Local Guide' shares detailed imagery of places he/she visits on the app of Google Maps, including reviews, ratings, 2D and 360ยฐ photographs, videos, Q&As and lot more information. In the last 3 years of annual Local Guides summit program at the Google headquarters in San Francisco, California - some top contributors from India have been honored for their endowments. ๐
Currently, there exists around 25-30 active regional Local Guides communities across the country, initially separated from each other due to large volume of the whole nation. A long-time contributor in the program, as well as a Google Street View Trusted Photographer, @AmbrishVarshney, one of the founders of the New Delhi based 'Local Guides India' community, originated an idea almost three months ago, about bringing up all these communities at one place, and the product of that idea after long WhatsApp discussions emerged as the 'GREAT INDIAN HERITAGE WALK'. A total of 13 Indian communities hosted meetups, themed on exploration of the local heritage architectures, this Sunday at their respective cities turning the event into a national one! ๐
While @NandKK hosted the Mumbai, Maharashtra edition, @NareshDarji hosted the Ahmedabad edition, @Afzal at Trivundrum, @imkunj at Gorakhpur, @JohnPeter at Chennai, @SalmaanN at Bangalore, Alam Shaikh at Pune, Ravee S Ahluwalia at Patiala, Santo Simon at Thrissur, led their communities in the meets. Special mention for @StephenAbraham, who despite being away from the nation, hosted his edition with fellow Indians at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the 'Little India KL Meetup'! ๐ฉ
Malaysia Local Guides celebrating the Little India Heritage Walk at Kuala Lumpur
Bangalore Local Guides led by Connect Live attendee Salmaan Nawaz
Chennai Local Guides led by John Peter
New Delhi Local Guides, the leader of the pack at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, Rajghat
Kolkata Local Guides snap a groupfie at Victoria Memorial Hall, West Bengal
Kerala Local Guides with their custom logo stickers
Mumbai Local Guides add color to the meetMy hometown, Kolkata did not miss the superb opportunity, thanks to @DrShaunak, @SukantaP, Amarjit Das, Truptilal Pattanaik and all others who attended the Victoria Memorial Hall meetup. The leader of the pack - of course the New Delhi community, hosted two back-to-back events to celebrate this day - one in the morning at Rajghat, hosted by Pushpinder, thereafter at the Red Fort (Lal Quila), hosted by Ambrish Varshney himself! ๐๏ธ
Indian Local Guides explored the vast architectural, historical and cultural heritage during The Great India Heritage Walk on 4th November, 2018It was really a great experience for me here in the New Delhi edition, making new friendships, meeting old mates, visiting the hot spots of Indian political history, and clicking a hell lot of photographs and selfies. ๐คณ
The grand success of this event showcased the passion which Indian Local Guides possess within themselves regarding the Google Local Guides program. The first ever Indian national meetup of the Local Guides definitely has set the platform for something bigger in the coming times. Thank you everyone for such a marvelous passion and congratulations! ๐
Picture Courtesy - Stephen Abraham, Varun Kumar, Afzal, Praveen D'Souza, Ambrish Varshney, Sukanta Pal, Baljinder Singh Khalsa. ๐ธ
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References:-
Announcement Post (General) - The Great Indian Heritage Walk
Announcement Post (Mumbai) - The Great Indian Heritage Walk - Mumbai
Announcement Post (Chennai) - Indian Heritage Walk - Chennai
Announcement Post (Pune) - Indian Heritage Walk - Pune
Recap Posts -
1) Mumbai, Maharashtra - [RECAP] The Great Indian Heritage Walk - Mumbai
2) Chennai, Tamil Nadu - Meet-Up, Great Indian Heritage Walk - Chennai - TravellerG
3) New Delhi - [Recap] The Great Indian Heritage Walk -Delhi 4 Nov 2018
4) Pune, Maharashtra - [RECAP] Indian Heritage Walk - Pune
Simply fantastic @ReshamDas
It's great to see many of meetups of different local guides from India at different places but just for one cause. Many congratulations to Googal Local guides India.
Congrats everyone and I am so happy to be able to be part of this big event to celebrate the Indian Heritage. Great job to all the hosts and organizers and I am sure the next event will be even larger and more colorful. I eagerly wait to read all the recaps.
@ReshamDas Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. @AmbrishVarshney Thanks for helping to make this possible.
For our Indian Heritage Walk showcasing the Deepavali/Diwali celebrations in Little India in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, here is the Recap for anyone keen to share in our experience and happiness.
And for my brothers in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala India, Afzal, Anish, Santo and all in Kerala, thanks for keeping me close there with you and holding me up always. Though you all are far in distance, but always close at heart.
