A study of the evolution of Visva-Bharati during the lifetime of its founder, Rabindranath Tagore, offers an insight into what this institution was intended to achieve. Rabindranath founded a school for children at Santiniketan and it was around this nucleus that the structure of an unconventional university developed through careful planning.
In 1863, on a seven-acre plot at the site of the present institution, Debendranath Tagore, the poet's father, had built a small retreat for meditation, and in 1888 he dedicated, the land and buildings, towards establishment of a Brahmavidyalaya and a library. Rabindranath's school Brahmacharyasrama which started functioning formally from December 22, 1901 with no more than five students on the roll, was, in part, a fulfilment of the wishes of his father who was a considerable figure of his time in the field of educational reforms. From 1925 this school came to be known as Patha-Bhavana.
The school was a conscious repudiation of the system introduced in India by the British rulers and Rabindranath initially sought to realize the intrinsic values of the ancient education in India. The school and its curriculum, therefore, signified a departure from the way the rest of the country viewed education and teaching. Simplicity was a cardinal principle. Classes were held in open air in the shade of trees where man and nature entered into an immediate harmonious relationship. Teachers and students shared the single integral socio-cultural life. The curriculum had music, painting, dramatic performances and other performative practices. Beyond the accepted limits of intellectual and academic pursuits, opportunities were created for invigorating and sustaining the manifold faculties of the human personality.
In 1937 Cheena-Bhavana, the department of Sino-Indian studies was established, and even today it remains, by any standard, a remarkable symbol of cultural collaboration. In 1939, the Hindi-Bhavana with certain distinct projects of studies was founded. Kala-Bhavana which was originally the institute for both Fine Arts and Music came into existence in 1921 but in 1934 it branched off into two independent institutions, Kala-Bhavana and Sangit-Bhavana each with its own distinct discipline. In generating more informed and cultured interest and more ample educational components, these two institutions played pioneering role in our country.
These details have been retrieved from http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in
Mission & Vision
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
To study the mind of man in its realisation of different aspects of truth from diverse points of view.
To bring into more intimate relation with one another, through patient study and research, the different cultures of the East on the basis of their underlying unity.
To approach the West from the standpoint of such a unity of the life and thought of Asia.
To seek to realize in a common fellowship of study the meeting of the East and the West, and thus ultimately to strengthen the fundamental conditions of world peace through the establishment of free communication of ideas between the two hemispheres.
And, with such ideals in view, to provide at Santiniketan, a centre of culture where research into and study of the religion, literature, history, science and art of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Islamic, Sikh, Christian and other civilisations may be pursued along with the culture of the West, with that simplicity in externals which is necessary for true spiritual realisation, in amity, good fellowship and co-operation between the thinkers and scholars of both Eastern and Western countries.
Sriniketan:
To win the friendship and affection of villagers and cultivators by taking a real interest in all that concerns their life and welfare, and by making an effort to assist them in solving their most pressing problems.
To initiate a dialogue between academic study and research of rural economy / culture and on-field experience.
Accommodation
HOSTELS: In the past Visva-Bharati had a unitary residential character. At present as a whole 1100 male students and 1170 female students (including school section) reside in 44 hostels of different capacities.
School Section : There are 3 girls' hostels and 3 boys' hostels earmarked for the school section of Visva-Bharati which accommodate 150 girls and 120 boys of Patha Bhavana (Santiniketan school - up to class X) while for +2 section i.e. Uttar Siksha Sadana, 62 seats are earmarked for boys and 54 seats for girls students. Residential students are admitted at class II and also in higher classes of Patha Bhavana provided vacancies arise.
Higher Institute (College & University Level): Senior students of Visva-Bharati stay in Girls' Hostels and 22 Boys' Hostels scattered over the twin campus (Santiniketan and Sriniketan) of Visva-Bharati with a total accommodation of 966 girls and 918 boys which also includes Research Scholar of different institutes.
Kitchen and Canteen Facilities: There are altogether 15 kitchens at Santiniketan and Sriniketan including 1 General kitchen for girls. Besides, there are 5 canteens in the campus.
Scholarships
There are a number of University merit scholarships awarded on the basis of merit and stipend on the basis of merit-cum –means available for pre-degree, undergraduate and postgraduate students. Some government and private agencies also award fellowships for entry in some courses.
