Santiniketan finally gets Centre-approved heritage recognition - and it praises Tagore

A massive controversy had erupted after the plaques at the Visva-Bharati University did not have Rabindranath Tagore’s name

Rabindranath Tagore at age 32, a painting by Abanindranath Tagore. | Photo Credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

A Centre-approved board identifying Santiniketan as UNESCO-approved world heritage site has finally been erected by Visva-Bharati in the location and, unlike a previous installation by the previous Vice-Chancellor, mentions Rabindranath Tagore.

It was in mid-September this year that Santiniketan - founded by Debendranath Tagore and home to Visva-Bharati, the university set up by his son Rabindranath - was accorded world heritage status by UNESCO, and shortly after that plaques had come up marking the site and they bore the names of only Chancellor Narendra Modi and (the then) Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty.

This move had kicked up a storm, with critics of the then V-C calling it an attempt to erase Tagore. Political parties too jumped into the confrontation, forcing the then administration to go on backfoot and claim that those plaques were temporary and were erected only to demarcate the heritage area and that they carried the names of the Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor purely for authentication.

Finally, late November, texts in Hindi and English - drafted by the Archaeological Survey of India and approved by the Ministry of Education - were sent to Visva-Bharati for correction and for Bengali translation. The university then formed a committee for the purpose and on Wednesday night a trilingual board came up.

The Archaeological Survey of India text not only mentioned Rabindranath Tagore but also showered him with superlatives so lavishly that the Visva-Bharati committee, in keeping with Tagorean traditions, had to tone it down. “Tagore’s name, for example, was prefixed with the word ‘great’. Now Tagore himself wouldn’t have approved of it,” a source told The Hindu.

“We corrected one or two factual errors, such as how in 1901 it was not Santiniketan that was established but the educational institution that later became Visva-Bharati. We also carried out some minor editing, besides trimming the superlatives,” the source said.

The new plaque, while giving a brief introduction of the heritage site, says, “Santiniketan continues to stand as a beacon of intercultural dialogue and artistic expression, nurturing the spirit of innovation and harmony. It remains a testament to Rabindranath Tagore’s vision of an abode where the world makes its home in a single nest, resonating with the timeless pursuit of knowledge and unity in diversity.”

To possibly avoid any further controversy, it also carries a footnote: “The text on this board is the officially approved statement of the UNESCO recognition of heritage status as endorsed by the Ministry of Education. This temporary board will be replaced by the permanent plaque, at the earliest, as soon as it is ready.”

Many in Santiniketan are of the opinion that the installation of the plaque should be done in an artistic fashion, something that blends with the aesthetics of Santiniketan rather than stick out like a sore thumb.