How you can explore newly listed UNESCO World Heritage site Shantiniketan

Updated On: 01 October, 2023 09:13 AM IST | Mumbai | Sucheta Chakraborty

Returning after 15 years to sylvan Shantiniketan, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site last week, its core vision to fuel the arts and philosophy continues to thrive, amidst newer walls and unspoken boundaries

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Moram Earth represents ‘responsible tourism’ which includes the involvement of local communities, use of indigenous produce, and protection and conservation of heritage

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Bolpur, West Bengal: With childhood memories of annual visits to the winter Poush Mela marking the harvest season, and the Basanta Utsav celebrating spring, this writer has long hoped to return to Shantiniketan, where Rabindranath Tagore founded the Vishwa Bharati University. This last week, after it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, we found reason enough to travel to the university town, originally established by Tagore’s father Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, in Bolpur in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

On a Sunday morning, after a quick cuppa, we headed for Shantiniketan by car. Bolpur is about 160 kilometres from south Kolkata, a distance, Google told us, could be covered in five hours. Sunday morning meant fewer cars on the road; we were soon on the Vidyasagar Setu with the Hooghly flowing below. There are trains too from Kolkata’s Howrah and Sealdah stations that take you to Shantiniketan’s Bolpur station in under three hours—on previous trips, one recalls Rabindra Sangeet playing from the loudspeakers at the train station, effectively transporting you into the poet’s world.

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