Visva-Bharati, the university established by Rabindranath Tagore, started its life on this day as a registered public body which adopted a constitution of its own. The institution was founded on the Vedic idea of “Yatra visvam bhavatyekanidam” (where the world makes a home in a single nest).
The institution, the university website reminds, was to provide for the coordinated study of the different cultures. Music and the fine arts being among the highest means of national self-expression, they were to have prominent seats of honour at Visva-Bharati, which was not only conceived of as an intellectual centre, but also a centre of economic life.
“Participating thus in all the major spheres of Indian life, the institution would attain a representative character and enter into an encounter with the rest of the world,” says the website.
In its journey of 101 years, Visva-Bharati has undergone many drastic changes.
