Shilaidaha Rabindra Kuthibari | |
---|---|
Native name Bengali: শিলাইদহ রবীন্দ্র কুঠিবাড়ি | |
Type | Complex |
Location | Shilaidaha, Kumarkhali Upazila, Kushtia District |
Nearest city | Kushtia |
Coordinates | 23°55′11″N89°13′12″E / 23.919641°N 89.219961°E |
Area | 11 acre |
Founder | Ramlochan Tagore |
Built for | Residence |
Current use | Tourist attraction |
Owner | Government of Bangladesh |
Shilaidaha Rabindra Kuthibari, in short Shilaidah Kuthibari, is one of the major tourist places in Bangladesh. It is located seven kilometers north of Kushtia on the banks of Padma in Kumarkhali Upazila of Kushtia District.
This Kuthi bari was built by an indigo-planter named Shelly which was later owned by Ramlochan Tagore. In 1807, Dwarkanath Tagore got the ownership of this kuthibari with the inheritance of estate. In 1892, [1] due to the erosion of the river caused by the flood, the Kuthibari was likely to disappear, so it was demolished and a new building was constructed elsewhere in the next year. Dwarkanath Tagore's grandson Rabindranath Tagore came to Shilaidaha several times to look after the estate. He had the opportunity to stay in this cottage. He wrote many literatures during his stay at Shilaidah Kuthibari. During his stay here in 1912, he began the work of translating the Gitanjali into English. [2] During his stay in this building in 1905, he wrote a song which is now the national anthem of Bangladesh. [3]
Before its acquisition to the Government of East Bengal in 1947, the ownership of this Kuthibari was transferred from the Tagore family to another landlord. [1] In 1958 it came under the Department of Archeology of Pakistan. In 1969, the provincial government planned to preserve it as an archaeological site. [4] Since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, it has been under the Department of Archeology of Bangladesh. [3] In 2013, then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee visited Shilaidah Kuthibari. He then told the government that he wanted to provide financial assistance to build a complex at the Kuthibari site. After four years, the decision was finalized between the two countries and the construction of the complex was completed by 2020. [5] In 2018, a dam was constructed to protect Shilaidah Rabindra Kuthibari, but a part of it collapsed in the same year. Later in 2022, another part of the dam collapsed. [6]
Shilidaha Kuthibari was built on 11 acre land of the village. This walled building is three storey museum that has 18 rooms with a central hall. [2] [1] There are a total of 17 doors for entering and exiting the 18 rooms. The building has a total of 30 windows to let in sunlight. [3] The building has an area of 273.87 square meters. Built in Indo-Saracenic style, this building is 8.71 meters high. [4]
There are two buildings near the gate of Kuthibari. The two buildings are named Gitanjali and Sonar Tori. There is a library, two ponds, a mango orchard, a garden and an auditorium. [7]
In 1986, [8] it became a museum. [2] The Department of Archaeology has preserved at least 80 photographs of Rabindranath Tagore as well as items used by Rabindranath Tagore at Shilaidah Kuthibari. [1]
It is a tourist attraction for Bangladeshi as well as foreign tourists. A three-day event is organized every year on the occasion of Rabindranath Tagore's birth anniversary. [1] In the fiscal year 2017-18, the Bangladeshi government earned ৳46 lakh by selling entry tickets to the Kuthibari. [9] However, the government refrained from organizing events here in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [10]
The stall of the Department of Archeology set up at the 2022 Ekushey Book Fair was modeled after Rabindra Kuthibari. [11]
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Kushtia District is a district in the Khulna administrative division of western Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh largest city in the country. Kushtia has existed as a separate district since the partition of India. Prior to that, Kushtia was a part of Nadia district. Kushtia is the birthplace of many historical figures including Mir Mosharraf Hossain (1847–1912), Bagha Jatin (1879–1915) and Lalon (1774–1890). Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore lived his early life at Shelaidaha, a village in the district.
Naogaon District is a district in northern Bangladesh, part of the Rajshahi Division. It is named after its headquarters, the city of Naogaon in Naogaon Sadar Upazila.
Shilaidaha is a village in Shilaidaha Union, Kumarkhali Upazila of Kushtia District in Bangladesh. The place is famous for Shilaidaha Kuthibari; a country house made by Dwarkanath Tagore. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore lived a part of his life here and created some of his memorable poems while living here.
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter during the age of Bengal Renaissance. He reshaped Bengali literature and music as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of the "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful" poetry of Gitanjali, he became in 1913 the first non-European and the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tagore's poetic songs were viewed as spiritual and mercurial; where his elegant prose and magical poetry were widely popular in the Indian subcontinent. He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. Referred to as "the Bard of Bengal", Tagore was known by sobriquets: Gurudeb, Kobiguru, and Biswokobi.
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The culture of Bengal defines the cultural heritage of the Bengali people native to eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, mainly what is today Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura, where they form the dominant ethnolinguistic group and the Bengali language is the official and primary language. Bengal has a recorded history of 1,400 years. After the partition, Bangladeshi culture became distinct from the mainstream Bengali culture, thus their culture evolved differently, still there are many commonalities in Bangladeshi culture & West Bengali culture which connects them both together as Bengali culture.
Tanguar Haor, located in the Dharmapasha and Tahirpur upazilas of Sunamganj District in Bangladesh, is a unique wetland ecosystem of national importance and has come into international focus. The area of Tanguar Haor including 46 villages within the haor is about 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi) of which 2,802.36 ha2 is wetland. It is the source of livelihood for more than 40,000 people. Bangladesh declared it an Ecologically Critical Area in 1999 considering its critical condition as a result of overexploitation of its natural resources.
Rabindra Jayanti is an annually celebrated cultural festival, prevalent among Tagorephiles around the world, in remembrance of Rabindranath Tagore's birthday anniversary. It is celebrated in early May, on the 25th day of the Bengali month of Boishakh, since Tagore was born on this day of the year 1268 of the Bengali calendar. Every year, numerous cultural programmes and events, such as: Kabipranam (কবিপ্রণাম) – the songs, poetries, dances and dramas, written and composed by Tagore, are organised in this particular day, by various schools, colleges and universities in Bengal, and is also celebrated by different groups abroad, as a tribute to Tagore and his works. Throughout the globe, Tagore's birth anniversary is largely celebrated at Santiniketan, Birbhum in West Bengal, chiefly in Visva-Bharati University, the institution founded by Tagore himself for the cultural, social and educational upliftment of the students as well as the society. In 2011, the Government of India issued a five-rupee coin to mark the 150th anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore's birth.
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Kachharibari also known as Rabindra Kachharibari or Rabindra Memorial Museum in Shahzadpur, Sirajganj District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, is the ancestral home and revenue office of the Tagore family. Rabindranath Tagore created many of his literary works while living in this mansion. His grandfather, Dwarkanath Tagore purchased the estate in 1840, and Tagore would often visit in the late-1800s to escape the busier side of his life. Tagore wrote part of his plays Bishorjon, Sonar Tori, Chitra, Chaitali, Golapguchchho, Chhinnapatra, Panchabhooter Diary and Meyeli Chhara in Shahzadpur.
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Ahmed Rafiq is a Bangladeshi language movement activist, writer and researcher on Rabindranath Tagore and his literature. He achieved Ekushey Padak in 1995 by the Government of Bangladesh. Tagore Research Institute in Kolkata conferred the Rabindratattacharya title on him in 2011.
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Sonar Tori is a collection of Bengali poetry by poet Rabindranath Tagore. The collection has more than forty poems and was first published in 1894. Sonar Tori is considered to be one of the most celebrated literary works of Tagore.
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