SHANTINIKETAN is part of Bolpur town in Birbhum district of West Bengal. It is well known for everything related to Rabindranath Tagore and his father and his son. The Ashram was founded by poet's father Debendranath Tagore on a land donated by Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha of Raipur, first Indian member of House of Lords. It started only with religious activities of Brahmo religion.
Poet spent major part of youth here and founded Vishwabharati University in Ashram form of ancient India. However topic here is totally different not what everyone know and discuss.
After Rabindranath bagged Nobel Prize in literature he was invited in many nations travelling globally. He was no ordinary person. He had inner eye to understand what he saw and attempted to utilize whether philosophy or art or music. That was how he created new order in Rabindra Sangeet.
Historically Egypt was well known for the craft of embossing on leather. The books with leather binding are usually embossed on it with name printed on it. Tagore visited Egypt first alone and thought of creatimg something new. Tried to see the embossing craft snd was impressed. During second visit he was accompanied by his son Rathindranath and few experts on leather craft. The team learnt and back home tried to recreate it.
Tagore visited Indonesia and was charmed by their Batique art on textile. Craft created mant designs and people around the glove used to visit and buy those textile items. Tagore tried his hand saw it can be replicated. During second visit he was accompanied by Rathindranath and few textile experts and designers. Back home they recreated perfectly well and Batique textile from Shantiniketan earned reputation all over India.
But Tagore was not the person who will stop merely replicating it. Now he toyed with idea to try Batique printing on leather surface. Since his team succeeded doing it well, he asked them to try Batique on embossed surface of the leather. It worked very well and thus created new era craft now known as Shantiniketan Leather craft. There after they created purses, vanity bags, foot wears and so on with this new craft, thus bring entire globe on creativity. Some friend suggested him to patent it but he refused saying I would like to use it to ensure bread and butter for poor.
Rathindranath with blessings of his father started Sriniketan an training center for crafts where training imparted on Batique on textile, Shantiniketan leather crafts and later added studio pottery, handmade paper and many more. This center is now part of Vishwabharati University with certain autonomy.
Subsequently an organization known as Amar Kutir was formed to commercialize all these products employing artisans belonging to various communities like tribals especially Santhals, Mochis and women. Thus it became growth center of these crafts and many more organizations sprang up nit only in Birbhum but also elsewhere in West Bengal wiping tears of many poor men and women. Amar Kutir too grew further having number of retail outlets.
To talk about Rabindranath Tagore, a poet, nivelist, short story writer, painter, philosopher, educationist, fashion technologist, creator of new craft, creating new university and so on it is difficult to describe him. I think we may describe him with one sentence "He was also a poet".
(Facts compiled by Gopikanta Ghosh)
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