Shanktiniketan

Santiniketan is a cultural town in West Bengal, near Bolpur, which is 180 km from Kolkata. This small cultural town was a vision of the famous Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. The Vishwa Bharati University or ‘the University Town’, as it was known in early days was an attempt of Tagore’s efforts that even today attracts significant number of visitors to the place.

With a rich cultural past, Santiniketan is a famous tourist attraction, especially for art and literature lovers, as this is the place where Tagore created many of his literary classics. The destination has a distinct culture and heritage of its own which can be experienced in the various festivals it celebrates like Poush Mela, Basantotsava and Rabindra Jayanti. 

The Poush Mela, which is held in the month of December every year, is a major attraction of Santiniketan. Since the Poush Mela draws a large number of people, accommodations need to be booked well in advance. Almost all hotels hike their tariffs during this time. The fair is also a good place to buy local handicrafts like Santinekatani leather work, batik prints, dokra work and jewellery. 

An upcoming event in Santiniketan is the Basantotsava ‘Spring Festival’, which heralds the spring season and is held during Holi. To be held around 8th March, 2012, it is a good time to visit the university town. Students are dressed in yellow costumes and welcome spring through Tagore's songs and dances. A lot of open-air programmes are held during this time. Accommodation, again, is hard to find at the time as there is a huge rush and it is essential to make arrangements well in advance. Room rates are also higher at this time.

Accommodation options, in the form of guesthouses, hotels, resorts and lodges, are available in and around Santiniketan, especially Bolpur. Youth hostels are available at Bolpur and Bakreswar. There is a WBTDC tourist lodge as well as a guest house run by the Vishwa Bharati.

Santiniketan is included in the popular cultural-religious tourist trio, which is a circuit that includes Bakreswar and Tarapith too. The trip originates at Santiniketan, and from there moves towards Bakreswar and then finally Tarapith.