AMN / WEB DESK
Santiniketan, the famed place where great poet Rabindranath Tagore built Visva-Bharati over a century ago, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The world body made the announcement in a post on ‘X’ on Sunday.
“New inscription on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List: Santiniketan, #India. Congratulations!” it posted.
India had been striving for long to get a UNESCO tag for this cultural site located in Birbhum district.
Noted conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah, who had worked on preparing a dossier for its inclusion in the list, said she was “dancing with joy” after hearing the news.
“We had worked on the dossier in 2009 and, maybe time wasn’t right then, but we always believed in the beauty of Santiniketan, and today we feel vindicated seeing it in the UNESCO list,” she told PTI.
The decision to include Santiniketan was taken during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee currently underway in Saudi Arabia, she said.
Mumbai-based Lambah, many of whose work have received awards and recognitions from the UNESCO, said that once the ICOMOS recommended for its inclusion in the list, it was nearly certain that it would happen.
A few months ago, the landmark site was recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List by international advisory body ICOMOS.
https://x.com/UNESCO/status/1703390201651810324?s=20
The France-based International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is an international non-governmental organisation that comprises professionals, experts, representatives from local authorities, companies and heritage organisations and is dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of the architectural and landscape heritage around the world.
Santiniketan, a university town over 160 km from Kolkata, was originally an ashram built by Rabindranath Tagore’s father Debendranath Tagore, where anyone, irrespective of caste and creed, could come and meditate on the one Supreme God, according to a description of the landmark on the official website of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
Mamata Banerjee@MamataOfficial – Glad and proud that our Santiniketan, the town of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, is now finally included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Biswa Bangla’s pride, Santiniketan was nurtured by the poet and has been supported by people of Bengal over the generations. We from the Government of West Bengal have significantly added to its infrastructure in last 12 years and the world now recognizes the glory of the heritage place. Kudos to all who love Bengal, Tagore, and his messages of fraternity. Jai Bangla, Pranam to Gurudev.