Shantiniketan. Review on Shantiniketan University

During our university days we were a group of four travel freaks who were often bitten by the travel bug. We managed to visit some pretty exotic places during our five years at the University.

The place, which we visited most, was Shantiniketan, a three and half-hours train journey from Kolkata. The reason why he visited Shantiniketan so often was simple. It was one place which we could easily afford (at best our budget was a paltry 500 bucks) and a place where we never needed any kind of planning. As you leave Kolkata on one of the many trains that connects Bolpur (the nearest railhead, 2 km away) you encounter only one colour, green my friends. But as you approach Bolpur the colour of the soil changes into red. You are in: O tui lal paharir deshe ja, ranga mattir deshe ja (Go to the land of red).

Shantiniketan is a university town and the main mode of transport is rickshaw. For us it was bicycles though (Rs. 10-15 for one hour, I guess that is the current rate). The university and the different bhavans dominate the town: Patha Bhavan :School

Shiksha Satra: Rural School

Uttar Shiksha Sadan: Pre-University

Sangeet Bhavan: College of Music

Siksha Bhavan: College of Science

Cheena Bhavan:Sino-Indian Studies

Vidya Bhavan: College of Humanities

Vinay Bhavan : Teachers' Training College

Kala Bhavan : College of Fine Arts and Crafts

Palli Shiksha Sadan : Agriculture & Social Science College

Hindi Bhavan : Study of Hindi Language & Literature

As your rickshaw pulls you through the campus towards your hotel, you will pleasantly surprised to see that groups of students sitting under a tree listening to a lecture from their teacher or you may be lucky to stare at students from Kala bhavan engrossed at their paintings. Yes, it is true, some classes are still held under the trees. Rabindranath was the pioneer of this concept and at one point of time open-air classes was held under the shimul tree. He appropriately named it as the Chhaatimtala or 'place under nature's umbrella'. To this day it remains as one of the most cherished places in the impressive campus. As you move around the huge campus you are bound to be nostalgic as you come across students from all parts of India and indeed a few other countries roaming around on their cycles. It isn't very difficult to make a few friends, provided you don't appear to them as a conventional tourist and provided you have interests in arts, music etc.

For you music lovers this is music territory and it is not improbable that you catch a student humming a rabindra sangeet. This is also home to the bauls, the singing minstrels of Bengal. A trip to this place is incomplete without listening to them. Ask for help from your newly made friends and they will take you to the source of folk music. Listening to the bauls is an experience and it is not going to be a coincidence if you get addicted to it. But please do treat them with respect and after listening to them for a couple of hours do shell out some money as a gesture of appreciation. They will never ask you however for that.

Shantiniketan has two rivers flowing through it; the Ajay and the Kopai. Take a stroll at the banks of Kopai, which is sadly getting commercialized by the day. But it is still a special place. The green landscape and the canal where you could sit for hours make this a hotspot for tourists and the students. Take a sip at the Tea and enjoy nature and you could be treated to some real intellectual discussions among the budding artists, or may be some well known authors from Bengali literature. Close to the banks of Kopai is the Goalapara village. Do visit the place and you will marvel at its beauty. I have never come across a more picturesque village in my life and chances are that you would like it too. (Incidentally this village is to be promoted as a model village).

Pay a visit at the burning ghat (Kankalitala). The place is on the banks of the river and is an abode of peace. For us this was a place to go crazy. One of the four in the group was a talented singer and a banjo player. To him this was the perfect place to jam with our great Basu da (Basudev Das Baul). The tunes from Kaushik's Banjo/Guitar with Basu da playing the Dotara ( a banjo like instrument) was magic. The rustic, earthly voice of Basu da with Kaushik's urban voice produced many a memorable evenings for us.

Accommodation: The West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation provides a tourist lodge that is by far the best. There is no dearth of hotels though and unfortunately the number in which they are cropping up is alarming. For us it was always a case of gate crashing into one of the rooms in the hostel or go straight to Basu da's house and stay there. The best times to visit Shantiniketan are between October and January. However like a peacock it spreads all its feathers when the rains hit the town.

Shantiniketan witnesses a couple of spectacular festivals. They are: The Poush Mela, which starts around the 22nd December each year. It commemorates the day Rabindranath began taking open-air classes at Shantiniketan. The Mela has a separate enclosure for the Bauls who sing all through the chilly nights. The other one is Vasantotsav or spring festival. It is held around the middle of March every year. Cultural programmes celebrate the arrival of the vasanta season or spring. Do keep in mind though that it is often too crowded during the festivals.

Please note that the review was initially written to highlight Shantiniketan as a perfect weekend gateway. I had submitted it through Mouthpad and now it seems it has been categorised under Universities. If you are keen to know on more on the university please use the comments section and I will try to help you out.

Cheers.