Santiniketan; near Bolpur in Birbhum district, is just 160 km from Kolkata, making it an ideal getaway from the noise and chaos of Kolkata. This is where Bengal’s most celebrated poet, visionary and thinker ‘Rabindranath Tagore’ gave shape to his dream, creating the university town of Viswa-Bharati. His family had its root here. The story goes that Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, whist a boat journey to Raipur came to notice a landscape of red earth and verdant paddy fields, fringed by date palms and trees. Charmed, he planted more trees there and built a small house, calling it Santiniketan( Santi= Peace and Niketan = House).
Even today, this quiet and culture-rich town exudes the rustic beauty. While Debendranath Tagore went on to find an ashram, Rabindranath Tagore chose this as an ideal place for learning environment and modeled it on the ancient Gurukul system.
On your trip to Santiniketan, amidst its green spaces lies the university that blends into its natural setting. The campus is home to an array of art, including sculptures, murals and painting by renowned artists such as Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and Ramkinkar Baji. You can also buy paintings at the shops that stock art here.
Explore the book stores while you are in Santiniketan as well. This part of Bengal is also associated with the Baul singing (Folk music) tradition. You must try and catch the performance of this rich and haunting music. Santiniketan celebrates many colorful festivals or Melas which bring together the art, culture and handicrafts of the region.
Don’t waste your time looking for a place to visit on your vacation or weekend book a cab from Gozocab and start your trip. To book a cab you can visit our website www.gozocabs.com or or download our mobile App from Google play store or Call us at +919051877000 .