From Kolkata
The
next time you need a break from Kolkata’s delirious pace, turn your thoughts to
Shantiniketan, 213 km away. A visit to this university town will put you in tune with
Tagore’s dream of peace, of harmony between nature and nurture. A milieu where
cultures synthesize and the mind is in sync with the environment. This dream of
Rabindranath Tagore’s materialized in Shantiniketan, a unique university where there
are classrooms under the skies, and if the student’s mind wanders, it dwells on the
cosmos.
The
institution was initially an Ashram set up by Maharishi Devendranath Tagore in 1863. His
son, Rabindranath experimented with a tiny class of five students in 1901, and
Shantiniketan evolved into the Vishva Bharati University. The range of studies is wide,
with an emphasis on art, music, dance and the humanities.
The
Vishva Bharati campus is an interesting synthesis of murals, frescoes,
paintings, sculptures and artistic tributes to Rabindranath Tagore, Nandlal Bose,
Ramkinkar, Bindobehari Mukhopadhyaya amongst other prominent personalities in education.
The Uttarayan complex where Tagore lived has a number of architecturally unique buildings
such as the Udayana. Konark, Shyamali, Punascha and Udichi. The Kala Bhavan, Rabindra
Bhavan , Uttarayan Gardens and the Deer Park near Sriniketan are major attractions.
About
3 km from Shantiniketan is Sriniketan which furthers Tagore’s vision
of rural development. Sriniketan focuses on agriculture, adult education, village welfare,
cottage industries and handicrafts. Rural co-operative stores sell the handicrafts –
batik, kantha embroidery, weaving, bell metal products, dhokra metal-ware, leather goods
and terracotta pottery.
Both
campuses are open to the public: Shantiniketan from 2 to 4:30 pm in winter; 2:30 to 5:30
pm in summer; and 7:30 to 11 am during vacations. Sriniketan opens from 10:30 to 12:30 in
winter; and 8 to 10 am in summer. |
