Shelaidaha Kuthi Bari
Shelaidaha
Kuthi Bari
In 1890 Tagore
started managing their family estates in Shelaidaha. He stayed there for over a
decade at irregular intervals between 1891 and 1901. It’s a rustic house build
by the daddy of Rabindranath, Maharshi Debendranath Tagore. The house was
repossessed by a Bank; the Tagore Estate was a debtor to the present Bank, who
auctioned off the property and it became the possession of the Zamindar of
Bhagyakul (Munshiganj), Roy family. The house was a part of Roy Estate till the
Zamindari system was abolished under the East Bengal State Acquisition and
Tenancy Act of 1950. Syed Murtaza Ali, during his tenure as Divisional
Commissioner of Rajshahi took the initiative to preserve the dilapidated house
in 1958. During this renovation, the colour of the house was inadvertently
changed to red like other houses belonged to the previous Zamindars of the
district.
He ruled over a
neighborhood called Khalifatabad stretching up to Naldi to the north of Narail.
Literature
During his stay he
wrote many of his famous poems, essays and short stories there. Among those a
number of the masterpieces are Sonar Tari, Katha o Kahini, Chitra, Chaitali,
etc. He also translated many of his creations in English there. He also wrote
most of the poems from Naibedya, Kheya and lots of of the songs from Gitanjali
and Geetimalya. It had been here, in Shelaidaha in 1912 that he started
translating his Gitanjali into English, which earned him the Nobel Prize for
literature in 1913. A mansion has been created in Shelaidaha Tagore's
Kuthibari.
Architecture
It is a 3 storied
building constructed with brick, timber, corrugated tin sheets etc. The
building is pyramid shaped with a terrace. The entire area of the compound is
11 acres. The building is situated on right within the middle of the compound.
Museum
The reformation of
Kuthi Bari has been completed under the Department of Archaeology, Ministry of
Cultural Affairs. It now is a museum named 'Tagore Memorial Museum'. Many of
his used objects are displayed here like his bed, wardrobe, iron chest, mower,
framed pictures and last but not the smallest amount his houseboat.
Festivals
Several festivals
are observed throughout the year in Kuthi Bari like 25th Baishakh as Tagore's
birth anniversary. It’s a five-day-long festival. People from across the
country also as India and therefore the remainder of the planet join this
occasion to celebrate his birthday. The program includes discussion, cultural
program, fair and staging of his plays.
First of all this
is a historical place. Take time to walk whole complex area of Rabindranath
Tagore's Shilaidaha Kuthibari, I think you definitely enjoy it. You may spend
time in front of ancient pond. If you are a music lover, you can take a change
to listen live music near pond.
A merry go round is available here to provide
services to the visitors. When you enter inside main Tagore's Kuthibari complex
area and museum you should spend time to conceive the real beauty of this
historical place. After visiting museum you may visit Padma River that is very
near to Tagore's Kuthibar. Just outside the main complex area, there are many
spaces available for picnic spot, vehicles parking and rest house. One thing, especially
I want to mention that do not escape
Tagore's Kuthibari
without tasting "Kulfi Malai" (Local Ice-cream) that is very popular
for its taste all over the country.
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