A birth at Thakur Bari
In 1913, the Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Rabindra Nath Tagore, the first Indian and non-European to get one. Tagore (an Anglicized version of the Bengali name Thakur) was born at his family mansion, Jorasanko Thakur Bari in the northern part of Calcutta.
Thakur Bari, a large mansion is set in a beautifully landscaped garden with mature flowering trees. A white colonial-style two-story enclosure with tall columns opens into an inner courtyard that surrounds a maze of rooms dedicated to Thakur life, art, and personal artifacts. The mansion’s elegant classical architecture is simple but built to last.
The Tagores lived in a joint family with his wife, brothers, parents, and grandparents. Most were talented intellectuals, artists, and reformers affiliated with the Brahmo Samaj. Here they hosted visitors, and artists and made music, poetry, paintings, and other creative and socio-political pursuits through the arts. The artifacts and art in the museum reveal the luxurious life of its former residents.
A life of art and culture
One gallery is devoted to Rabindranath Tagore’s life and corridors exhibit posters of Tagore’s writings and life stories; another section displays other eminent members of the Thakur family, who were prominent in the Bengal Renaissance. Some rooms depict their travels around the globe including China, America, and Europe, and display images of visitors from around the world who visited the family.
Amongst the pieces of furniture from that time, are a dining table, armchairs, and the bed on which Rabindranath Tagore breathed his last.
A legacy that lives on
An auditorium provides an event space for special occasions. The day I visited, music students celebrated their graduation ceremony, many dressed in unique traditional Bengali sarees of crisp white cotton and red borders.
Today Thakur Bari sits in a busy crowded neighborhood of narrow lanes, a busy road, ordinary residential homes, and a modern shopping center. The mansion has housed the Rabindra Bharati Museum since Tagore’s centennial year, 1962. The Rabindra Bharati University which has since been relocated was once situated here.
Photography is not allowed inside the buildings. Visitors to Thakur Bari have to leave their footwear outside by the stairs leading up.
I left Thakur Bari realizing how the family used their power, and privilege, and talents to leave such a rich legacy that it remains a place of inspiration for the many who travel great distances to see it.
