SANTINIKETAN

also spelled Shantiniketan former town, now part of Bolpur town, Birbhum district, West Bengal state, northeastern India. Santiniketan (Sanskrit: The Abode of Peace) began as Santiniketan Asram, a meditation centre founded and endowed in 1863 by Maharishi Debendranath, the father of the world-famous Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore, in turn, established the Brahmo Vidyalaya (school) and in 1901 another open-air laboratory school. By 1921 the latter had expanded into Visva-Bharati University, which sought a basis for a common fellowship between the cultures of East and West. Visva-Bharati is a residential university (incorporated 1951), with an international student body, hostels, and extensive grounds. It includes separate colleges for fine arts and crafts, Sino-Indian studies, music and dance, research in Asian languages, teacher training, technology, and postgraduate studies and research. Rabindra-Sadana is the university's museum and academy for the study of Tagore. The town also contains Udayana, Tagore's residence. At nearby Sriniketan is an institution founded in 1922 by Tagore and an associate that is concerned with rural reconstruction, health, social welfare, and the revival of ancient arts and handicrafts. Many outstanding Indian painters have made studies there. Pop. (1981) Bolpur, 38,436.