University: Nature guide

As a child, Rabindranath Tagore found the school atmosphere claustrophobic and restrictive. His mission was to take education beyond the confines of a classroom and direct it towards personal and intellectual development rather than exam-oriented bookish knowledge. To him, nature was the most fertile ground to provide free and fearless environment for growth and encourage creative pursuits. In Santiniketan, he found the sky unobstructed to the verge of the horizon. In nature, Tagore found a sakha, a guiding spirit.

Proposing the name of his dream project, Tagore said, 'Visva-Bharati represents India where she has her wealth of mind which is for all.' The motto of the university reads Yatra visam bhavatyekanidam - where the world makes home in a single nest.

He believed that without giving due recognition to its cultural heritage such as music, dance, finer arts and folk arts, a nation lacks self-expression. Tagore visited several countries to raise funds for his dream project and talk about universal brotherhood.


On his trip to Japan, he said, 'I try to assert in my words and works that education has its only meaning and object in freedom - freedom from ignorance about the law of nature, and freedom from passion and prejudice in our communication with the human world.' Tagore dreamt of unity of humanity to overcome bondage, barrier and boundaries.

May 7 is Rabindranath Tagore's birth anniversary