Santiniketan recommended for World Heritage List inscription

Santiniketan in West Bengal has been recommended “for inscription to the World Heritage List by ICOMOS, the advisory body to Unesco World Heritage Centre”, G Kishan Reddy, Union minister for culture, has stated in a tweet.

Santiniketan, located in Bengal’s Birbhum district, is the place where Nobel laureate and poet, Rabindranath Tagore, laid the foundations of an unconventional education system that got shaped into a central university over the years.

Also Watch | CM Mamata Banerjee sings Rabindra Sangeet on Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary in Kolkata

“Founded by the first non-European Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Thākur (popularly known as Tagore) in 1921, Visva-Bharati was declared to be a central university and an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament in 1951,” states the university’s website.

Reddy, in his tweet, further stated that the move furthers (the) vision of Prime Minister Modi to “showcase our rich cultural heritage to the world”. “This will formally be announced in the World Heritage Committee meeting to be held at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in September, 2023,” he added.

“It is indeed a matter of great pride for all of us that ICOMOS has recommended VB’s case to the Unesco for inscription as (a) World Heritage Site,” a Visva-Bharati official said.

The development comes a day after Tagore’s 162nd birth anniversary was celebrated across Bengal, and Union home minister Amit Shah participated in a special function on the occasion of Tagore’s birthday in Kolkata. Shah visited Tagore’s ancestral home in the morning, and spoke at length about the Nobel laureate at the function in the evening.

The President of India is the university’s Visitor, and the PM is the chancellor.

Coincidentally, the region has been making headlines for a very different issue. The university, and eminent economist Amartya Sen, are in an argument over the possession of 13 decimals of land. The university has claimed that that said patch of land is an unauthorised possession by Sen, despite him having put forth his explanation on the issue concerned. The issue has now taken a legal course.