| The place came
to be known as Shanti- niketan or the abode of peace. It was truly a Shantiniketan as even
now after quite a few decades have passed and lofty edifices have been raised in
connection with Viswa-Bharati University at Shanti- niketan and a large colony established
the place is still so very attractive with peace exuding all over. It is a place where one
has got to melt into the environs. J.C.Oman had
mentioned "11 The Chattim tree at Bolpur is in the belief of Debendra Nath's
followers destined to become in after years as famous as the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya,
which some four-and twenty centuries ago witnessed Gautama's great temptation and his
final triumph over
Mara the Evil One."
The Nobel tradition of Shantiniketan chapel emphasizing a universalism in religion was
very ably followed up by Maharshis son Rabindra Nath Tagore, one of the greatest
poet-philosophers of the world. The poet underlined the work of the Brahmo vidya- laya and
expanded it into boarding school thrown open to boys of all castes and creeds. The ancient
Indian Ashram principles were rigidly followed. The boys and girls used to go about
bare-footed, partially cooked their own food, worked with their own hands and do their
studies in the midst of a religious atmosphere.
11 The Brahmans, Theists and Muslims of
India, (1907). |
