Sriniketan (also spelt Sri Niketan) is a neighbourhood of
Surul in
Bolpur subdivision
Bolpur Subdivision is an administrative subdivision of Birbhum district in the state of West Bengal, India.
Overview
Bolpur subdivision is part of the Suri-Bolpur Plain, a sub-micro physiographic region. It covers the interfluves of the Mayura ...
of
Birbhum district
Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other imp ...
in the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
. It is adjacent to
Santiniketan
Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
and houses the second campus of
Visva-Bharati University
Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...
. The Palli Samgathana Vibhag (Institute of Rural Reconstruction) and Palli Siksha Bhavana (Institute of Agricultural Sciences) are located in west bengal
Geography
Location
Sriniketan is located at . It has an average elevation of .
In the map of Bolpur-Sriniketan CD block on page 718 o
District Census Handbook Birbhum (Part A) Sriniketan is shown as part of
Surul.
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the area. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
Climate
CD block HQ
The headquarters of
Bolpur Sriniketan community development block are located at Sriniketan.
History
450px, Mural by Nandalal Bose at Sriniketan
In 1921
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
bought a large manor house with surrounding lands in
Surul, 3 km from
Santiniketan
Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
, from the Sinhas of
Raipur
Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...
. He set up the
Institute of Rural Reconstruction in the manor house, in 1922 with
Leonard Knight Elmhirst as its first Director.
Rathindranath Tagore
Rathindranath Thakur (anglicised as Rathindranath Tagore, 27 November 1888 – 3 June 1961) was an Indian educationist, agronomist and painter. He served as the first vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati University, which was founded by his father ...
, Santosh Chandra Mazumdar,
Gourgopal Ghosh, Kalimohan Ghosh and Kim Taro Kasahara joined Elmhirst.
[Basak, Tapan Kumar, ''Rabindranath-Santiniketan-Sriniketan, An Introduction'', pp. 6–8, BB Publication]
The second but contiguous campus of
Visva Bharati
Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...
was subsequently located around the same place in 1923 and it came to be known as Sriniketan. Silpa Bhavana at Santiniketan had already started training in handicrafts. Sriniketan took over the work with the objective bringing back life in its completeness to the villages and help people to solve their own problems instead of solution being imposed on them from outside. An emphasis was laid on a scientific study of the village problem before a solution was attempted.
[
In consonance with such ideas about reconstruction of village life a new type of school meant mainly for the children of neighbouring villages, who would eventually bring the offering of their acquired knowledge for the welfare of the village community, was also conceived. Siksha-Satra was such a school set up at Santiniketan in 1924 but shifted to Sriniketan in 1927. The ''Loka-Siksha Samsad'' an organisation for the propagation of non-formal education amongst those who had no access to usual educational opportunities, was started in 1936. ''Siksha Charcha'' for training village school teachers followed next year. In 1963, an agricultural college was set up in Sriniketan and in 1977 Rural Research Centre was set up.][
]
References
Birbhum district
{{cite book , last=Das Gupta , first=Uma , title=A History of Sriniketan: Rabindranath Tagore's Pioneering Work in Rural Reconstruction , publisher=Niyogi Books , date=2022 , url=https://www.amazon.in/History-Sriniketan-Rabindranath-Pioneering-Reconstruction/dp/9391125441/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZTT422CAQUQ4&keywords=A+History+of+Sriniketan&qid=1641807084&s=books&sprefix=a+history+of+sriniketan,stripbooks,525&sr=1-1
