Serene Pleasures at Shantiniketan
Posted On March 2, 2013
Shantiniketan is a beautiful town in the State or West Bengal and is famous as the University locale of Sir.Rabindranath Tagore, the great Bengali poet and writer. Around 212 kms from the city of Kolkata, this small paradise is near a place called Bolpur in the district of Birbhum and is a major place of attraction for all who come to this part of the world.
With Kolkata as the nearest rail and air base, the other railway station near Shanti Niketan is Bolpur, which is around 2 km away from here. Shanti Niketan is also connected to other cities by road and thus provides great pleasures of tours and travels.
Shantiniketan was earlier known as Bhubandanga and was so named due to the dacoit Bhuban Dakat. The famed Tagore family owned this place. It is said that in the year 1862, Maha Rishi Devendranath Tagore spotted this place amidst an ambience of green. Then in the year, 1863 an ashram was founded here and thus started the initiation of the Brahmo Samaj.
It was in the year 1901 that Rabindranath began the Shantiniketan School, which was then called the Brahamachari Ashram. It was built on the liens of the ancient Gurukul system and was later called the Patha Bhavan. Mainly based on the ideals and principles that Rabindranath had visualized, Shantiniketan strives to be an epitome of learning for all. The Visva Bharati Society was thus established sometime in the year 1921 and Tagore thus envisioned a society devoid of ignorance.
Finally Shantiniketan was given a school called the Visva Bharti.Shantiniketan thrives in enhancing the capacity of the child so it is very common here to have open schooling. Students loved to sit in the open air and enjoy studies as a form of relaxation. So there were no classrooms butt beautiful trees to sit and learn. The Chhattim trees are famous here and they are given leaves for graduation as a form of gift.
Shantiniketan has been the home of Satyajit Ray, the famous director, Indira Gandhi, our former prime Minister of India, and many such illustrious people. Shantiniketan has its own art colleges, the Kala Bhavan. It also has many such centres of learning like the Rabindra Bhavan, the Vinaya Bhavan, and the Sangit Bhavan for music, the Institute of rural construction, and many such institutes.
With the best of frescoes, splendid structures, and murals, surrounding the entire palace, it is unimaginable how someone could bring out a place like this and how they could access what was considered to be a God forsaken land.
Very popular for its innumerable festivals, Shantiniketan has the capacity of bringing out the best in its students and standing up for the best. So you have the Joydev Mela in January, the Poush Mela in December, the Mystic Baul Singers, and the Basanta Utsav. Thus, this small beautiful paradise becomes necessary see in tours here.
