Shantiniketan: UNESCO World Heritage Site in West Bengal. Tagore’s vision of art, education, and sustainability resonates through its unique architecture.
- Shantiniketan’s art and architecture stands out in the World Heritage crowd as a testament to a sustainable way of life that we are only beginning to fathom now
- Maharshi Debendranath Tagore had bought a large chunk of land in Bolpur, Birbhum in 1863 and built a guest house called Shantiniketan
- Gradually, the entire area began to be known by that name and his son
Rabindranath Tagore developed a school there and later Visva Bharati, his world university - Rabindranath Tagore had looked East for inspiration when India was under the yoke of colonialism, developing Shantiniketan with a Pan Asian modernity in mind
- In Times Special, we speak to Abha Narain Lambah and Manish Chakraborti, who made Shantiniketan’s
UNESCO nomination dossier
Rabindranath Tagore with Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi at Shantiniketan in 1940 | Photo: Wikipedia
Tagore’s first wish to preserve his havenManish recalls a correspondence between Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, saying, “Tagore wrote a letter to Mahatma Gandhi, saying Visva Bharati is like a vessel carrying the cargo of my life’s best treasure and I hope it may claim special care from my countrymen for its preservation.” That was the first time Shantiniketan’s preservation had been thought of, by its own creator. But how was Shantiniketan conceived? It all began in Bolpur, Birbhum. The year was 1863 and Maharshi Debendranath Tagore had just purchased a large chunk of land from the local talukdar that had two huge chhatim trees. He built a guest house in the middle of the property and named it Shantiniketan, his spiritual retreat. His son, Rabindranath Tagore, paid a visit to the place when he was all of 17. In 1901, a 40-year-old Rabindranath established a school for boys that would later be named Patha Bhavan. In 1921, he founded Visva Bharati, his world university. Visva Bharati was made a central university by an act of Parliament in 1951, ten years after Tagore’s death. “Shantiniketan was a fresh gift to the rest of the world,” says Manish. “It doesn’t really follow codified colonial norms like Lord Macaulay’s classrooms. He counterpointed that by holding classes in the open air, amidst nature. Visva Bharati is a nest where everybody can come. I think it deserved to be in the list long, long ago, but better late than never. It is now included as a World Heritage Site for the world to see, understand and be inspired.”Shantiniketan was uniquely juxtaposed at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, says Abha. Maharshi Debendranath Tagore had built a spectacular glass prayer hall underneath one of the chhatim trees which was reminiscent of The Crystal Palace in London’s Hyde Park. But rather than looking West like the rest of India, Rabindranath Tagore chose to look East. “The glass structure with the Pooja Ghar has a very 19th century Neoclassical feel, almost like one of those cast iron conservatories that had a more European influence. And yet, all the other structures built after that are distinctly Asian,” she says. Chhatim Tala has a resonance of Buddhist stupas, the harmika and the kind of sculptures you see of railings of Buddhist stupas at Sanchi. The Purva Toran and Patho Bhavan blend in very interesting medieval forms. The Torans or gateways draw from Jaunpuri Sharqi architecture, Rajput as well as Mughal and pre-Mughal Sultanate architecture. And then, Tagore’s five houses in the Uttarayan complex — Udayan, Shyamali, Konark, Udichi and Punashcha — the gardens and the landscape are a seamless marriage of nature to the built form. “On top of that was this layer of murals by the students of Shantiniketan and great artists like Nandalal Bose. You have Kala Bhavan and sculpture panels on Kalo Bari which are reminiscent of the Indus Valley Harappan seals. So, Shantiniketan was a tangible realization of an artistic community’s encounter with a Pan Asian modernity. Most of India was under the yoke of colonialism at that time, but Shantiniketan drew upon ancient, medieval and folk traditions of India as well as Japan, China, Persia, Bali and Burma. And all these created a rich tapestry of art, architecture, interiors, even furniture design or landscape design that is so unique to Shantiniketan,” Abha adds.
An educational institution like no other, with eclectic alumnilistIn this vast sea of life, I will never lose my way, for I have made you my North Star — Tomarei koriyachhi jibonero dhrubotara — the Tagore song speaks for all the stalwarts who have seen the light of knowledge in the open skies of Shantiniketan. Visva Bharati has quite an eclectic alumni, including Mrinalini Sarabhai, Satyajit Ray, Amartya Sen, Indira Gandhi, Mahasweta Devi and Maharani Gayatri Devi among several others.Shantiniketan is the womb that birthed The Bengal School of art, under the aegis of Tagore’s nephew Abanindranath Tagore. It is an educational institution like no other, which makes it difficult to compare it with other World Heritage Sites that have nurtured young minds. “Very few World Heritage Sites could even be compared to Shantiniketan,” Abha declares. “There’s only a handful of educational institutions in the World Heritage List — including Bauhaus in Germany and the University City of Caracas in Venezuela, which is a monumentalwork of modernism. There’s the grand école in France, but that’s not a World Heritage site. From India, we have Nalanda in Bihar, but it’s not a living university. So, even in its comparison with other World Heritage sites, Shantiniketan stands a class apart.”It’s this earthy uniqueness that made Shantiniketan a rather challenging nomination from the start. A good number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites belong to the ancient or medieval world. So, very often it is about what is older, more historic. “And here we were nominating a 20th century ensemble. Besides, very often what comes before the World Heritage Committee is the tallest, the largest, the oldest, the most monumental site. In India, the Agra Fort and Red Fort in Delhi or Taj Mahal or even Ajanta and Elora are all ancient and monumental sites. But we were putting forward something as simple as a Kalo Bari, and small structures like Taladhwaja or Notun Bari. They were rooted to the grass, to the ground, clad not in marble but local mud or lime plaster. So, the challenge was to be able to create a very strong narrative to make the international audience understand the significance of this site,” Abha recalls. Born in Kolkata, trained by renowned danseuse Amala Shankar, Ravindrasangeet was probably the first music that Abha had heard. So, going to Shantiniketan to prepare the UNESCO dossier was a deeply personal journey. “The fusion of art, architecture, sculpture, dance, music, and how Shantiniketan transcends all these different silos that we consider them to be is the most beautiful thing about the place,” she confesses.
A matter of great pride, and greater responsibilityShantiniketan has been inscribed under Criteria 4 and Criteria 6 of the UNESCO World Heritage List. Criteria 4 mandates that a site has to be an outstanding example of an architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage or stages in human history. And according to Criteria 6, the site needs to be directly or tangibly associated with living traditions, ideas, beliefs, artistic and literary works of universal significance. Abha, Manish and the team zeroed in on three areas that fit snugly into both the mandates — the Ashram, Kala Bhavan and Sangeet Bhavan — basically the Visva Bharati campus comprising 30 odd buildings, landscapes, pathways, platforms, and open places of celebration. Shantiniketan was also an experiment in social change within the backdrop of the Swadeshi movement. “It influenced the planning of Gandhi’s ashrams at Sevagram in Maharashtra and forged a new aesthetic as a counterpoint to European colonialism. Shantiniketan explored a range of architectural vocabularies that become a foil to other early 20th century movements like the Vienna Secession that drew in artists like Gustav Klimt,” Abha shares. Of course, Shantiniketan was associated with Rabindranath Tagore. But it was also enriched with the contributions of other great artists and architects like Surendranath Kaur, Nandalal Bose and Benode Behari Mukherjee. “There is a distinct understanding of the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright in the form and landscape of Uttarayan. Ramkinkar Baij’s sculptures draw heavily from tribal art of and around Bolpur. Shantiniketan forged an Indian aesthetic that went on to influence many artists of that generation and after,” she stresses.The UNESCO tag is a matter of great pride for Shantiniketan, no doubt, but will the tag ensure the university town’s preservation, especially in the wake of recent instances of encroachment? What if it fails to live up to the UN body’s guidelines? Manish declares, “UNESCO doesn’t preserve. It asks how the nation which considers the site to be of outstanding value would like to preserve this for posterity. We as a nation nominated Shantiniketan to the world for a designation. And India is responsible enough to ensure Shantiniketan’s maintenance and sustenance of the paradigms set by Tagore. Not just Visva Bharati University, the central government, the state government, the local high-level committee, we are all custodians to ensure that the outstanding significance of the site is in no way eroded.”Would this tag insulate Shantiniketan from land sharks, and from assaults on its inherent aesthetic? Abha minces no words, saying, “Badly designed buildings can be a visual and physical assault on historic enclaves like Shantiniketan. So, I’m hopeful that with the World Heritage tag, there would be greater responsibility and also greater monitoring by the urban development department, the local bodies and the West Bengal government to ensure that development is in sync with the historic value and character of Shantiniketan.”[Anondoloke Mongolaloke, the Rabindrasangeet played at the beginning of the podcast, has been sung by Rezwana Choudhury Bannya and brought out by Waddington Studio. Tomarei Koriyachhi Jibonero Dhrubotara, another Rabindrasangeet used in the podcast, has been sung by Durnibar and brought out by Asha Audio. Sarod renditions of the Tagore songs used in the background have been played by Prithwidev Bhattacharyya] Audio production: Sahil Gupta