Visva-Bharati University

Context: Visva-Bharati University will soon get the ‘heritage’ tag from UNESCO to take the distinction of world’s first living heritage university.

About the university:

• It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921.
• Until Independence, it was a college and the institution was given the status of Central University in 1951 through a central Act.
• Its first vice-chancellor was Rathindranath Tagore, the son of Rabindranath Tagore.
• The second vice-chancellor was grandfather of another Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen.
• In 1922, Visva-Bharati was inaugurated as a Centre for Culture with exploration into the arts, language, humanities, music.

About Rabindranath Tagore

• Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, novelist, and painter, who was born in Calcutta on May 7, 1861 and was highly influential in introducing Indian culture to the west.
• He was also referred to as ‘Gurudev’, ‘Kabiguru’, and ‘Biswakabi’.
• He was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for his work on Gitanjali in 1913.
• In 1915, Tagore was awarded knighthood by the British King George V. However, in 1919, following the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre he renounced his Knighthood.
• Rabindranath Tagore was a good friend of Mahatma Gandhi and is said to have given him the title of Mahatma.
• He gave the national anthems for two countries, India and Bangladesh.
• He inspired a Ceylonese student of his, to pen and compose the national anthem of Sri Lanka.
• Tagore believed in open-air education and had reservations about any teaching done within four walls. This was due to his belief that walls represent the conditioning of the mind.
• Tagore did not have a good opinion about the Western method of education introduced by the British in India; on this subject, Tagore and Gandhiji’s opinion matched.
• So, he devised a new system of learning in Visva-Bharati which allowed students to continue their course till the student and his teacher both are satisfied.

Source: Indian Express

Previous Year Questions

Q.1) With reference to Madanapalle of Andhra Pradesh, which one of the following statements is correct? (2021)

1. Pingali Venkayya designed the tricolor Indian National Flag here.
2. Pattabhi Sitaramaiah led the Quit India Movement of Andhra region from here.
3. Rabindranath Tagore translated the National Anthem from Bengali to English here.
4. Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott set up headquarters of Theosophical Society first here.

Q.2) Wellesley established the Fort William College at Calcutta because (2020)

1. he was asked by the Board of Directors at London to do so
2. he wanted to revive interest in oriental learning in India
3. he wanted to provide William Carey and his associates with employment
4. he wanted to train British civilians for administrative purpose in India