Visva Bharati University, Kolkata
University Link
Santiniketan
- To study the mind of man in its realisation of
different aspects of truth from diverse points of view.
- To bring into more intimate relation with one
another, through patient study and research, the different cultures of the East
on the basis of their underlying unity.
- To approach the West from the standpoint of such a
unity of the life and thought of Asia.
- To seek to realize in a common fellowship of study
the meeting of the East and the West, and thus ultimately to strengthen the
fundamental conditions of world peace through the establishment of free
communication of ideas between the two hemispheres.
- And, with such ideals in view, to provide at
Santiniketan, a centre of culture where research into and study of the
religion, literature, history, science and art of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain,
Islamic, Sikh, Christian and other civilisations may be pursued along with the
culture of the West, with that simplicity in externals which is necessary for
true spiritual realisation, in amity, good fellowship and co-operation between
the thinkers and scholars of both Eastern and Western countries.
Sriniketan
To win the friendship and affection of villagers
and cultivators by taking a real interest in all that concerns their life and
welfare, and by making an effort to assist them in solving their most pressing
problems.
To initiate a dialogue between academic study and
research of rural economy / culture and on-field experience.
About Visva-Bharati
Founded by the first non-European Nobel Laureate
Rabindranath Thākur(popularly known as Tagore) in 1921, Visva-Bharati was
declared to be a central university and an institution of national importance
by an Act of Parliament in 1951.
The President of India is
the Paridarsaka (Visitor) of the University, the Governor of West Bengal is the
Pradhana (Rector), and the Prime Minister of India acts as the Acharya
(Chancellor). The President of India
appoints the Upacharya (Vice-chancellor) of the University.
A CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
In May 1951, Visva-Bharati was declared to be a Central University and "An Institution of
National Importance" by an Act of Parliament. It was granted the status of
a unitary, teaching and residential university. The status and function of all
the major institutions have been redefined in successive Amendments.
HISTORY
A study of the evolution
of Visva-Bharati during the lifetime of its founder, Rabindranath Tagore,
offers an insight into what this institution was intended to achieve.
Rabindranath founded a school for children at Santiniketan and it was around
this nucleus that the structure of an unconventional university developed
through careful planning.
In 1863, on a seven-acre plot at the site of the present institution,
Debendranath Tagore, the poet's father, had built a small retreat for
meditation, and in 1888 he dedicated, the land and buildings, towards
establishment of a Brahmavidyalaya and a library. Rabindranath's school
Brahmacharyasrama which started functioning formally from December 22, 1901
with no more than five students on the roll, was, in part, a fulfilment of the
wishes of his father who was a considerable figure of his time in the field of
educational reforms. From 1925 this school came to be known as Patha-Bhavana.
The school was a conscious repudiation of the system introduced in India by the British rulers and Rabindranath
initially sought to realize the intrinsic values of the ancient education in India. The
school and its curriculum, therefore, signified a departure from the way the
rest of the country viewed education and teaching. Simplicity was a cardinal
principle. Classes were held in open air in the shade of trees where man and
nature entered into an immediate harmonious relationship. Teachers and students
shared the single integral socio-cultural life. The curriculum had music,
painting, dramatic performances and other performative practices. Beyond the
accepted limits of intellectual and academic pursuits, opportunities were
created for invigorating and sustaining the manifold faculties of the human
personality.
