Visva-Bharati to start Sun guided walks in Santiniketan heritage zone
Kolkata: Visva-Bharati (VB) is set to introduce Sunday guided walking tours of the core heritage zone — the Ashrama area of Santiniketan — for tourists, probably from July. The Ashrama complex, which accommodates tourist attractions like the Upasana Griha, Santiniketan Griha, Patha Bhavana, Chhatimtala, Dinantika, Gour Prangan, Cheena Bhavana, Hindi Bhavana and other heritage structures, was restricted to tourists since the pandemic.
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The newly appointed vice-chancellor, Probir Kumar Ghosh, in March announced that the Ashrama area will be made accessible to the public in a controlled manner to strike a "balance between heritage conservation and tourist access."
Sources said the decision to conduct heritage walks was taken at a high-level meeting in May. An official shared that the university was planning to introduce guided walking tours after the summer vacation ends.
"The guided tour will be conducted on Sundays in slots comprising nearly 25 visitors. Tourists can avail themselves of the facility of online booking to book slots for the heritage walk, which will be provided by trained guides," said VB public relations officer Atig Ghosh.
The heritage walks will provide tourists a glimpse of the Upasana Griha (the glass temple), the Chhatimtala, the Santiniketan Griha, which is the oldest house on the campus and was bought by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore in 1862 from a local zamindar, the Patha Bhavana, the school founded by Rabindranath Tagore for children, the Cheena Bhavana, the Hindi Bhavana, the octagonal two-storey structure Dinantika, the Singha-Sadan, with its iconic clock tower and bell, and other heritage structures.
"It is still under consideration whether tourists can visit Sangeet Bhavana and Kala Bhavana," said Ghosh.
An official added: "Young VB employees and students will be given training for conducting the tours. The heritage walks will be conducted in three languages — Bengali, English, and Hindi. Initially, we will be starting as a trial run and expand it depending on the response of visitors. There is also a plan to introduce light and sound shows."
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While the Ashrama area was restricted to public access even after the pandemic, the Uttarayan Complex (housing the Rabindra Bhavana, the residences of Tagore, ) is fully accessible to the general public on all days of the week, except Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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