After years of neglect, Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral residence at Jorasanko in North Kolkata will finally get a face-lift on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary.
The Jorasanko museum—a treasure trove of over 700 works from the Bengal school of art that include Abanindranath Tagore, Gagenandranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Hirachand Dugar, Ramkinkar Baji apart 45 rare masterpieces of Rabinandranath Tagore —perpetually in want of funds, is now the recipient of generosity from many countries.
“We had started the renovation of the Jorasanko mansion with a sum of RS 9 lakh from the Rabindra Bharati University fund last year,” says Karunasindhu Das, Vice- Chanceller, Rabindra Bharati University. The university authorities have completed the first phase of renovation. The second phase of restoration, centered around the heritage wing of Jorasanko, namely ‘Ram Bhavan’ and ‘The Bichitra Bhavan’, will take off soon.
“The second phase of work would be undertaken by the Archeological Survey of India with the budget of Rs 16 lakh sanctioned by the central government. The state government has also given a sum of Rs 45 lakh for the restoration of the heritage building while the Kolkata Corporation has granted a sum of Rs 17.70 lakh on the occasion of Tagore’s 150 birth anniversary.
But not just the state and Centre, the world has woken up to the need for preserving Tagore’s residence-turned-musuem. For the museum, which is part of the Rabindra Bharati University, it’s a deluge of funds. It typically gets about Rs 1.5 lakh a year from the university for restoration and preservation.
Funds have come in from the US, China and Bangladesh, on conditions of opening a separate gallery at Jorasanko dedicated to Tagore’s visit and relations with these countries. The US ambassador has granted a sum of 13 lakh for the opening of the US gallery dedicated to Tagore’s numerous visits to the oldest democracy while the Republic of China has sanctioned a grant of Rs 30 lakhs for the opening of the Chinese gallery and the Bangladesh High Commission has also promised a grant for the opening of the Bangladesh gallery.
“We have had talks with the Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh and also with representatives of the Bangladesh government and are planning to open a Bangladesh gallery marking the importance of Bangladesh that inspired Tagore to create some of his finest literary works,” says Das.
“The Bangladesh government has also promised us to give the famous ‘Padma boat’ aboard which Tagore watched the lush green beauty of the land, an inspiration for many of masterworks,” adds Das. The proposed Bangladesh gallery would also have copies of all literary works published on Tagore in Bangladesh along with a separate art gallery of works of Tagore by Bangladeshi artists.
The celebration of the 150 birth anniversary of the Nobel Laureate commenced from May 5 and will continue till May 12. Scholars, poets, novelists from all across the globe are expected to take part in the celebrations and possibly rekindle interest in Tagore.
