Visva-Bharati University

Infobox_University
name = Visva Bharti University


image_size = 100px
established = 1863
type = Public
chancellor = Dr. Manmohan Singh
vice chancellor = Professor Rajat Kanta Ray
city = Santiniketan
state = West Bengal
country = India
campus = Rural
affiliations = UGC
website = [http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in www.visva-bharti.ac.in]

Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan is a Central University in India and is located in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is one of the most well-known universities of the country and has been the alma mater of several prominent personalities of the nationalist movement in India. Tagore coined the name Visva Bharti, which means the communion of the world with India. In its initial years Tagore expressed his dissatisfaction with the word 'university', since university translates to Vishva-Vidyalaya, which is smaller in scope than Visva Bharti. Soon after independence, in 1951 the institution was given the status of an university, and renamed Visva Bharati University.

History

The origins of the university date back to 1863 when Maharshi Debendranath Tagore established an "ashram" (called "Brahmacharya Ashram" and later renamed "Brahmacharya Vidyalaya") at the spot that has now come to be known as "chatim tala" at the heart of Santiniketan. It was established with a view to encourage people from all walks of life to come to the spot and meditate. In 1901 his youngest son Rabindranath Tagore established a co-educational school inside the premises of the "ashram" called Patha Bhavana. At this school, there were originally four founding students who stuided under road lamps with Tagore. One of these is ex CJI Sudhi Ranjan Das who went on to become the university's vice-chancellor later on in life.

Tagore used to also organise the Hindu Mela in Santiniketan, which became a centre of nationalist activity at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1921 Tagore started the university with proceeds from the prize money of the Nobel Prize he received for the publication of his book of poems entitled "Gitanjali" in 1913. The university also became a centre of Brahmo learning in this period. The institution was granted its full university status 1951. Rathindranath Tagore was appointed as the first "upacharya" of the university. Another member of the Tagore family who performed the role of "upacharya" was Indira Devi Chaudhurani.

Organisation

The high officials of the university include the "paridarshaka" (visitor), "acharya" (chancellor), and the "upacharya" (vice chancellor).

The university has several institutes and colleges under its supervision for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies. They are "Vidya Bhavana" (Institute of Humanities), "Shiksha Bhavana" (Institute of Sciences), "Palli-Shiksha Bhavana" (Institute of Agricultural Sciences), "Binay Bhavana" (Institute of Education) and "Kala Bhavana" (Institute of Fine Arts). It has a museum under its aegis, which is called "Rabindra Bhavana" which is housed in the Uttarayan complex, the residence of Tagore.

It also has four schools under its supervision. They are "Patha Bhavana", "Shiksha Satra" (two elementary and secondary schools) and "Uttar Shiksha Sadana" (a higher secondary school) also confer certificates of the university.

Apart form that It has associate institutes.Bengal Institute of technology and Management(BITM,Santiniketan),IIIT Kolkata are among them.

Famous alumni/academics/affiliates

*Syed Mujtaba Ali, Novelist and litterateur
*Charles Freer Andrews, Anglican priest and lecturer, philanthropist
*Dr Probodh Chandra Bagchi, [http://ignca.nic.in/ks_40007.htm] , First Vice Chancellor of the university to be appointed from outside the Tagore family
*Ramkinkar Baij, Sculptor and painter
*Kanika Bandyopadhyay, Singer
*Prabhatmohan Bandyopadhyaya, Painter, poet, and social activist
*Nandalal Bose, Artist
*Sudhi Ranjan Das , Author and ex-Chief Justice of India
*Gayatri Devi, Maharani of Jaipur
*Savitri Devi, Actress
*Leonard Knight Elmherst, Agricultural educationist
*Indira Gandhi, Former Prime Minister of India
*Gourgopal Ghosh, Mohan Bagan football player
*Santidev Ghosh, Author, singer and dancer
*Somnath Hore, Artist, printmaker & sculptor
*Stella Kramrisch, Art historian
*Vincenc Lesny, Indologist and Iranian studies scholar
*Sylvain Levi, Oriental scholar
*Suchitra Mitra, Singer
*Benode Behari Mukherjee, Painter and sculptor
*Guru Kelu Nair, Kathakali maestro
*William Winstanley Pearson, Philanthropist; translator of Tagore's work
*Satyajit Ray, Filmmaker and writer
*Bhimrao Hasurkar Sastri, Musician
*Brajendra Nath Seal, Philosopher
*Amartya Sen, Economist
*Tan Yun-Shan, Confucian scholar
*K.G. Subramanyan, Painter and theoretician
*Abanindranath Tagore, Painter and children's writer
*Giuseppe Tucci, Italian scholar
*Moriz Winternitz, German professor of Indian philology and ethnology
* Sujit.K.Basu, Scientists & Management Administrator, Ex-Vice Chancellor.

ee also

* List of universities in India

External links

* [http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in Official website Visva Bharti University]