Santiniketan: Rabindranath Tagore's Eternal Abode

Santiniketan, referred to as University town, is located around 150kms north of Kolkata, also known as the City of Joy. Debendranath Tagore, father of Rabindranath Tagore, founded it as an ashram in the late 19th century. The attractively-designed ashram and university campus have now achieved the status of a tourist destination where nature and knowledge wonderfully converge.

My in-laws had never been before, although my husband, Debashis and I had visited this lovely location a few times before. On 9th March'23 in the morning, we set out on our road adventure. After taking a brief break at Saktigarh to eat a delectable breakfast of Kachuri (puffed bread) and Langcha (fried sweets), we arrived to our AirBnb at around 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Since we were already quite hungry, we freshened up and headed to The Mud House, a popular eatery in the area, for lunch . We ordered 2 bengali thalis, veg and non veg. Food was very tasty and reasonably priced. We didn't have much plans for the evening as all of us were wearied of the long journey and I had some pending office work to complete. We had dinner and rested early as we had a long next day planned.

Day 2's destination was the Tarapith Temple, which is around 60 kilometres from Santiniketan in the nearby town of Tarapur. A particularly auspicious place, Tarapith is a 13th century Hindu temple dedicated to the Goddess TaraMa . Goats are offered on the temple altar every morning as sacrifice to the Goddess Tara, who is a manifestation of Kali. The deity of Tara is enshrined inside the temple. The nearby cremation ground makes this a quite unique temple. The worshippers witness a metal incarnation of TaraMa that is enclosing a stone figure of the deity. Since , huge number of devotees visit the temple every day, it is advisable to reach the temple as early as possible to avoid crowd. We got up at 5.15am in the morning to make it there by 8 am. Even though we arrived early, we each had to purchase VIP pass of Rs500 . The waiting time for VIP passes was an hour, compared to more than five hours for regular free passes. At Shree Guru Puja Bhandar, we had our very own well-known temple pujari. Their shop was located precisely at the Temple's front gate. We performed a good puja, and everything was finished in just over an hour. As soon as everything was in order, we departed from the temple, had breakfast at the Mahaprabhu Hotel on Temple Road, and then made the decision to go see Sadhak Byamakhyapa's home.

The revered Tara Maa disciple Saint Byamakhapa used to practise meditation in the Tarapith temple's adjoining crematory. He worshipped Ma Tara as if she were his mother. He was born about two kilometres from the tarapith temple in the village of Atla in the Rampurhat division of Birbhum.

We set off for Bakreshwar hot spring and Bakreshwar thermal power plant after touring Saint Byamakhyapa's original home. The only natural hot water spring in Bengal, Bakreshwar hot spring is shrouded in absolute serenity. We took around 1 1/2 hours to get there from Atla, which is about 60 kilometres away. There are roughly nine springs in the area, eight of which are grouped together and one of which is farther away. The spring with the highest temperature, Agni Kund, is about 65 degrees. Since it is a pilgrimage site , one can take a dip at the holy spring as well.

Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station(BTPS) is located at around 23kms from the hot water spring and it took us 40mins to reach there. BTPS of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited is a power station with an installed capacity of 1050 MW. Although we went expecting to have a tour of the plant, unfortunately some prior permission was required from Kolkata Commission which we were unaware of.

With heavy hearts we departed the Thermal Power Station and started our journey back to our Abode of peace at Santiniketan. Had a late lunch at The Mud House.

In the late afternoon, the weather suddenly shifted. Gusty winds started blowing and our favourite Nor'westers started. The sudden downpour felt refreshing from the sultry afternoon earlier. Due to poor weather conditions, we had to surrender to the homely dry items for dinner.

The third day was planned to be an active day. On the final day, there were several activities planned, and we were able to do the majority of them.

We got going on our day at around 10am after having breakfast. Breakfast was given in the Airbnb where we were staying and was included in the per day rent. Breakfast items like bread,eggs,fruits and sausages were served . We began our long day by touring Kankalitala, a well-known temple close by. It is located on the banks of the Kopai River, about 9 kilometres from Bolpur. It is a well-known Hindu shrine in West Bengal and one of the Sakti Peeths, where Maa Sati's waist is said to have fallen. The temple exudes a calm and peaceful aura. Local artists presented songs and dances from the area which created a magical atmoshpere. We stayed there for over an hour before moving on to Viswa Bharati University and the Museum.

Viswa Bharati University is an institution of national importance founded by the eminent Rabindranath Tagore. The university still maintains the rural trappings that Tagore envisioned, and junior sessions are still held here in the open shadow of large trees. A guided trip typically costs 500 rupees offseason and 1200 rupees during high season. Local rickshaws transport tourists around the expansive campus of the university and inform them about the several institutes they pass, including Kala Bhavana ( Institute of Fine Arts), Sangit Bhavana ( Institute of Dance,Drama and Music), Cheena Bhavana ( Institute of Chinese Language and Culture) and others. Notable alumni includes the names of big personalities like Satyajit Ray (Oscar winning film-maker), Mahashweta Devi (Padma Vibhushan Bengali author), Amartya Sen ( Noble prize winner in Economic Sciences), Indira Gandhi (first Female Prime Minister of India ) and others. Rabindra Bhavan ( Museum) which once hold the Nobel prize of Rabindranath Tagore (before it got stolen in 2004) still houses numerous documents, original manuscripts and interactions of Rabindranath Tagore with his family members and friends around the world. The entire museum tour took a lot of time, and we were unable to leave early because everything was so fascinating. There are no set hours for visiting the university campus, even though the museum remains open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday, the museum is closed. We left the museum as it was about to close, promising to return later, and set off for our next stop.

This trip would not have been complete without stopping at Sonajhuri Haat, an unique market in Santiniketan that is open exclusively on the weekends. The market is exceptional because locals conduct their open air sales of lovely handmade items, jewellery, and clothing in the middle of a forest. We accomplished a limited amount of shopping because stores were only open during daylight hours, but we weren't mentally satisfied. As evening rushed by, we departed from there, but our hearts stayed back.

Last day of the trip always feels bad. As the trip comes to an end , we prepare to return to our regular routine lives. Around 11am, after breakfast, we started our journey towards Kolkata. We halted at Saktigarh to buy Langchas for our home and friends. On our way , we had our lunch at the Hotel Nabanna in Singur and returned home at 5pm. Thus, our fun, activity - filled, 4 days of rejuvenating family trip comes to an end!