123 Santiniketan: From now on, visitors can again enter the core heritage area — the Ashrama area — on the Visva Bharati University campus. After his first administrative decision on Thursday, the newly appointed vice-chancellor, Probir Kumar Ghosh, told reporters, "It is a matter of pride that our university was declared by UNESCO as a living heritage. We have to maintain this status. There is a link between heritage and tourism."
The VC said, "I already approved the entry to the heritage area for the visitors. This is an open campus without a boundary. We are taking care of various issues, including security. We will have a dialogue with the state and local administration. How to maintain the World Heritage status is our utmost priority." Ghosh, incidentally, is a VB alumnus himself.
Atig Ghosh, PRO of Visva Bharati, said, "The matter was discussed at a high-level meeting on Thursday. The formal notification is yet to be issued." Since enforcement of Covid protocols, tourists' entry to VB was restricted. Before that, commoners could enter the Ashrama area after 1 pm when the classes of Patha Bhavana, the secondary school founded by Rabindranath Tagore, would be over. Post-Covid, the prohibition was reduced in phases but not withdrawn.
In the VB compound, most of the tourist attractions are located in the Ashrama and Uttarayan complexes. Restrictions at Uttarayan complex were withdrawn when the Covid situation became normal. The Ashrama complex accommodates Upasana Mandir (glass temple), Santiniketan Bari, which was built by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, the open-air classes of Patha Bhavana, the old library building, Ananda Pathsala (a kindergarten school) and Amra Kunja (mango grove). Santiniketan Bari, which was the first building on campus, also houses a museum, exhibiting priceless things related to the early days of Santiniketan. Anil Konar, an official of Santiniketan Trust, said, "We welcome the move. Though the core Ashrama area is the property of this Trust set up by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, the university looks after this area. Tourists should be allowed to see how Tagore's thought was incarnated in the early days."