[2] In 1863, Debendranath Tagore took on permanent lease 20 acres (81,000 m2) of land, with two chhatim (Alstonia scholaris) trees, at an annual payment of Rs.

It led to a situation of conflict and confrontation, but the leader of the gang, ultimately, surrendered to Debendranath, and they started helping him in developing the area.

Inspired by The Crystal Palace built originally in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 and later relocated, Debendranath constructed a 60-foot × 30-foot hall for Brahmo prayers.

[7] The environment at Jorasanko Thakur Bari, one of the bases of the Tagore family in Kolkata, was filled with literature, music, painting, and theatre.

[8] Founded in 1921 by Rabindranath Tagore, Visva Bharati was declared to be a central university and an institute of national importance, in 1951.

Santiniketan earlier had an extensive forest cover, but substantial soil erosion gave certain areas a barren look, the resulting phenomenon is locally known as khoai.

[14] The Uttarayana Complex, which lies in the northern portion of the town and is located next to Rabindra Bhavana, features a collection of five houses built by Rabindranath – Udayan, Shyamali, Konark, Udichi and Punascha.

The entire outside wall was decorated with beautiful relief work by Kala Bhavana students under the guidance of Nandalal Bose.

There are numerous other houses: Dehali, Santoshalaya, Singha Sadan, Dwijaviram, Dinantika, Taladwaj, Chaitya, Ghantatala, Panthasala, Ratan Kuthi, Malancha and others – each with an interesting story that makes it historically relevant.

[15] Visva Bharati was established as a centre for culture with the objective of exploring the arts, language, humanities, music etc.

A Santal family, complete with dog, a group of workers running along at the call of the mill, their clothes flying in the air, a thresher, all situated along the main road.

Nandalal planted Eucalyptus saplings in the area, knowing that one day these tall trees would be a perfect setting to Ramkinkar's Sujata.

It was Nandalal Bose, who created an environment where art would be a part of life and the children of Santiniketan have grown absorbing these beautiful monuments as they have the oxygen in the air.

[21] Mira Devi, Rabindranath's youngest daughter, after her failed marriage, lived in Malancha built for her in the Ashrama complex in 1926.

Krishna Kripalani, husband of Nandita (Buri), daughter of Mira Devi, taught at Santiniketan for nearly 15 years, beginning 1933.

[24] Dinantika, built in 1939, housed the Cha chakra, where staff members of Visva Bharati met over a cup of tea for meetings and relaxation.

[15] Indira Devi Chaudhurani, daughter of Satyendranath Tagore, started living in Santiniketan in 1941 and took charge of Sangit Bhavana.

[25] Supriyo Tagore, great-grandson of Satyendranath, was a student of Patha Bhavana and Visva Bharati University before going abroad to complete his education.

His son, Sudripta, with wide-ranging experience in the field of education, is also engaged in setting up a school, at Ruppur near Santiniketan, embodying the ideas of Rabindranath.

There is direct AC Volvo bus service of WBTC from Kolkata to Bolpur Shantiniketan (Kolkata-Bolpur-Suri & Suri-Bolpur-Kolkata).

Bhasa Bhavana offers undergraduate and post-graduate courses in Arabic & Persian, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Indo-Tibetan, Japanese, Odia, Santali and Sanskrit.

Vidya Bhavana offers 1-year courses in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Marathi, Odia, Pali, Persian, Russian, Sanskrit, Santali, Tamil, Tibetan and Urdu.

It also offers 2-year courses in Arabic, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Marathi, Odia, Pali, Persian, Russian, Sanskrit, Santali, Tamil, Tibetan and Urdu.

[33] Devendranath Tagore with twenty followers accepted the Brahmo creed from Ram Chandra Vidyabagish on 21 December 1843 (7 Poush 1250 according to the Bengali calendar).

[35] Holi, the festival of colours, is celebrated in its own style at Santiniketan – it is called Basanta Utsav and welcomes the arrival of spring.

The programme starts from the morning with singing and dancing to Tagore's tunes by the students and ends with spreading coloured powders (called ‘abir’) and expression of festive wishes.

Nandan Mela marks Nandalal Bose's birth anniversary (on 1–2 December) and is a special attraction for art lovers.

25 Baisakh (7-8 May) is the birthday of Rabindranath Tagore but his birth anniversary is celebrated along with and subsequent to the Bengali New Year (mid April onwards).

[36] Amar Kutir (meaning: my cottage), once a place of refuge for independence movement activists has been turned into a cooperative society for the promotion of arts and crafts.

This is a village market and one can buy local handicrafts and listen to folk music sung by tribal groups .