Shantiniketan - the abode of peace

A few days ago I got an opportunity to visit Shantiniketan. Although it was on my bucket list, I hadn't been able to go for a long time. It was early morning, when I started my lone journey from Kolkata to fulfil my quench to see and feel the air and land once inhaled and touched by Kobi Guru Rabindranath Tagore.

Driver Dipankar had been a very good companion to me throughout the journey. He tried to fulfil my desire to know all about the places we were passing by.He was pointing out to me the places which he thought might interest meand described the places as best as he possibly could. He talked to me in his native language, Bengali.

"Madam, oi je Dakhineswar Temple, daandike dekhun." (Madam, that is the Dakhineswar Temple to the right)

"Madam, amieibar Durga Sarovar expresseuthesi. (Now we are driving on the Durga Sarovar expressway)

etc., etc."

After two hours of our journey on the Durga Sarovar express highway, he stopped the car and parked it to the left side of the road and told me, "Madam,namun. eikhaneLangsakhetehobe." (Madam, get down here, we will eatLangsahere).

I had heard the word, "langsa" for the first time. I followed him to a small restaurant named,LangsaNagar. To my surprise, there are lines of small restaurants on both sides of the road,the names of which either began or ended with Langsa.

My curiosity increased manifold to know about what "Langsa" meant.

It's a "black lalmohan" kind of sweet shaped like pointed gourd or Assamese potol. These are kept in abig bowl and are available in three sizes priced at Rs 5, 10 and 20. I ate one piece at a cost of Rs 10 and found it really yummy, soft and juicy, …they were so tempting that I had another one.

Although I ordered 10 to be packed for home, as suggested by Dipankar, I cancelled my order and planned to buy them on my return journey.

Dipankar had puri, sabji, sana polaocalledSitabhog and I paid only Rs 50 for all. The place named Shaktigarh is famous for special kinds of sweets made from milk named langsa, mihidana and sitabhog.

Of course, I had a cup of tea in a clay pot which was my all-time favourite during my stay in Kolkata.

After two hours of journey, we reached Barddhaman, a big town in Birbhum district of West Bengal and after some time we reached a small town Bolpur, nestling in the midst of greenery. The entire landscape was full of paddy fields and after a few minutes we reached Shantiniketan - the birthplace of Gitanjali. Gitanjali- the collection ofpoems, for which Kobi Guru Rabindranath Tagore was conferred with the world's highest literary award, the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913.

I felt excited to reach the place of my dreams. As Dipankar stopped the car in front of a terracotta gate, a few people came up to me and asked me whether I needed a guide. I asked Dipankar to fix the price with them. They offered me a guide and an e-rickshaw, which is popularly known as "toto" for Rs 500. It is convenient to roam around the place using a totoand tourists visiting this place use the toto, extensively.

I got down from the car and got into a toto and roamed around the place with my guide-cum-driver Tapan, for the next few hours.

Tapan Roy, born and brought up in Shantiniketan, started the engine of his toto and inhaling the air and feeling the land once breathed and touched by Kobi Guru, I got engrossed in the world of Shantiniketan, listening to the words of Tapan.

I found that Tapan was quite knowledgeable about the place.He told me all about aboutthe genesis and the history of how the first open University of India, where classes are conducted in the open air, was established.

As per history, Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, father of KabiGuru Rabindranath Tagore while going to visit his friend Bhuban Mohan Singh, Talukdar of Raipur, liked the place and bought the land from him at a very minimal price. Maharshi Debendranath Tagore was a famous reformer of India and was a disciple of Brahmo Samaj. He used to meditate and got enlightenment under a Satim tree in this area. The place is popularly known as Satimtala, and it attracts tourists.

Maharshi Debendranath Tagore established a house named a " Shantiniketan - the abode of peace, and started living in this place spreading the culture of Brahmo Samaj. Accordingly, the name of the place became Shantiniketan. He also established a very beautiful temple open for all religions and the temple does not have any idol. The glasses of the temple are made of colourful Belgium glass. With trees and flowers surrounding the area, the temple spreads love. The temple is known in three names `KashMandir, Upasana Mandir', or `Brahmo Mandir'.

Rabindranath Tagore extended the thought process of his father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore and established the renowned VishwabharatiUniversity, the first open University of its kind in 1921. Many Indians who became famousstudied in this place, one of who was former Prime Minister of India late Indira Gandhi.

In 1901, Rabindranath Tagore got the Nobel Prize and brought laurels not only to this place but for the whole of India. Shantiniketan is the birthplace of two Nobel Laureates of India - Kobi Guru Rabindranath Tagore and Economist Amartya Sen. My journey started from the Economics buildingin Shantiniketan where Amartya Sen had studied and then to his house just in front of the college building of Economics.

At every significant spot, Tapan used to park his toto and gave me an insight of the place . I had heard the word,Satimtala, from my childhood days and was excited on seeing it for the first time. The original Satim tree was no longer there but the newly planted satim tree was as big as earlier one. The place is very serene. It is not open to the public all the time and opens only twice a year during Paush mela, one of the famous festivals of Shantiniketan and marks the death anniversary of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore.

The Kalabhavan is really a place to worship. Surrounded by many big trees, its serene atmosphere obviously gave birth to many renowned sculptors and painters. Many renowned sculptors and painters of India studied here.

In front of Kalabhavan there exists a big sculpture depicting a tribal family. The work was done by renowned artist RamkinkarBaij. Many sculptures done by great artists like RamkinkarBaij and Nandalal Basu have been artisticallyplaced in Shantiniketan, all masterpieces of that era.

Rabindranath Tagore's wife Mrinalini Devi was working in a school for children and was very passionate about her work. The place named Dehuti, is very serene and peaceful. As per her last wish her body was kept at this place for some time before performing her last rites.

I saw all the places in the campus andeasch was described in detail byTapan. I saw Kalabhavan, UpashanaGriha, the school, auditorium, markets, etc. I saw the 250 year old "Bata brikhya" with roots originating from its trunk. Kobi Guru Rabindranath Tagor used to play in this area in his childhood. My last visit was to the museum, Rabindra Sadan, where Kobi Guru Rabindranath Tagore lived with his family. The museum is properly maintained and is replete with the history of Shantiniketan. The Nobel Prize, the articles used by him, the various gifts received by him are re showcased very nicely in the museum. The museum area is huge with a few independent houses which have big compounds and gardens. In each of these houses,members of the Tagore family resided. The name of these houses arse Konark, Udayan, Shyamali, Punoso and Udisi.

I bought a few cards inscribed with Kabi Guru's handwriting and also bought a copy of the Gitanjaliwritten in his ownhand as memoribilia.

While returning I visited Sriniketan–a serene place to enjoy the traditional culture of rural and tribal West Bengal. I enjoyed the famous Baul music of West Bengal, the tribal dance in which I also participated. The traditional tribal clothing, decorative pieces, ornaments, earrings, etc are very colourful and attractive.

KabiGuru Rabindranath Tagore himself was a great artist with a commendable devotion towards the arts and culture. A poet, a painter, a script writer, a musician who took keen interest in uplift of tribals in that area and tried to popularise their artifacts. And this is how Sriniketan was established.

I have found a touch of originality still alive in every corner of the place- the famous Shantiniketan - where people from different parts of the world visit and enjoy itspeaceful atmosphere. I am happy that I could breathe the air and feel the place once breathed and touched by renowned people of a bygone era.

Indeed, I enjoyed a memorable day inShatiniketan's serene ambience.

While returning, , I didn't forget to buy lansgsa, sita bhog and sanapora Mithai as had been suggested by Dipankar.

By: Mousumi Deka

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