Shantiniketan House Of Swadeshi Painter Abanindranath Tagore Yields Place To Highrise

Nephew of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, he became the second chancellor of Visva Bharati University in 1942, after the demise of his uncle in 1941.

Bolpur: A vestige of Shantiniketan, the abode of legendary painter Abanindranath Tagore who introduced Swadeshi values to Indian art will be demolished. Nephew of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, he became the second chancellor of Visva Bharati University in 1942, after the demise of Tagore in 1941.

The house in Abanpalli, named 'Abas', was built by his son Alokendranath Tagore where Abanindranath lived for several years. It is learnt that the nostalgic structure will soon yield a place to a highrise. People are not only miffed over this but have raised questions about the gradual wiping out of heritage buildings from Shantiniketan.

Locals said 'Abas' has been lying abandoned for years but earlier, Abanindranath's grandson Amitendranath Tagore used to stay here sometimes. It is not known when he came here last time and it was locked for many years. And the sudden news of demolition has come as a shocker to the locals.

Subrata Sen Majumder, the former vice-principal of Patha Bhavan and a neighbour of Abanindrapalli lamented, "I saw the sons of Abanindranath living in the house and it is disheartening to see it getting demolished. The structure of the house exhibits the thought process of Aban Tagore and Alok Tagore and the house has been named Abanpalli after Abanindranath. An ideal educational institute is being slowly crept over by hotels and resorts. I fear the next generation will know nothing about the history of Shantiniketan,"

"Many such memories of Shantiniketan are being obliterated this way and the house of Abanindranath Tagore has no value to the land sharks. The quarter of Indira Debi Choudhurani opposite the Ananda Pathshala has also been razed and a new look is being given to Shantiniketan which is abhorred by many. It's paining to see the relic of Abanindranath being thrown away this way."

The entrance of 'Abas' in Shantiniketan's Abanpalli. (ETV Bharat)

"It's disheartening that the house of a painter like Abanindranath could not be preserved and as an artist, I am deeply shocked to hear about it," Subhayu Sen, lecturer of Sangeet Bhavan and a noted Esraj player, said.

After hearing about the proposed demolition from ETV Bharat's Avishek Dutta Roy, Chandan Mandal, councillor of Bolpur Ward 2 hurried to the spot which falls under his ward.

"I came to know about it from ETV Bharat. The area has several places of distinguished personalities. The house in question is under the ownership and I will personally look into whether the owner has instructed the demolition. I will inform higher authorities of Bolpur Municipality and we will never do anything against the ideals of Gurudev (Tagore)," Mandal said.

The labourers engaged in the demolition could not give a satisfactory reply about who ordered the demolition and why and said they were just following instructions.

Notably, land sharks have been proactive in Shantiniketan for the last two decades, grabbing the heritage banks of the Kopai River and building highrises, resorts, restaurants, hotels, lodges and housing complexes on lands of the natives. Despite repeated complaints, the administration has not taken any action.

Birbhum District Magistrate Bidhan Ray has sought a report from the land and land reforms department about the land on which the house is situated. Following this, a team of four members of land department officers including Sudip Majumdar and Sabyasachi Ghatak visited the plot on Wednesday.

Abanindranth Tagore with his uncle Rabindranath Tagore. (ETV Bharat)

According to the land reforms department, the plot in the Taltor Mouza was sold by Arundhati Tagore, wife of Amitendranath in April 2024 to Pritam Nandy and Chandan Kumar Roy of Rajarhat-Gopalpur in South 24 Paraganas.

"We are verifying the details of the heritage house as per the order of the district administration," Majumdar said. Though no reaction came from the current buyers, the district administration has halted the demolition work for the moment.