Sakhigopal, April 23: Once a symbol of pride for the Odias, the Satyabadi Bana Vidyalaya at Sakhigopal now stares at gloom.
Better known as “Bakula Bana” (bakul forest) since students were imparted education here in natural surroundings, the site of the first-ever national school planned in Odisha in 1909 has been under lock and key for the past three years.
Even a Rs 5.13-crore tourism development project failed to revive it.
The unique concept of teaching students under the shade of bakul and churiana trees was developed by five big leaders of the state — Pandit Gopabandhu Das, Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra, Acharya Harihar Das, Pandit Godavarish Mishra and Pandit Nilakantha Das.
Often referred to as Panchasakha, the leaders dedicated their youth to developing this institute, which had a defining role in reviving education in the state in the pre-Independence era.
Though located only 50 kilometres from Bhubaneswar, the government seems to have forgotten not only the concept, but also the institution.
The school has been converted into a tourist spot, but there is no on at the gate even to sell tickets.
Enthusiastic tourists who want a glimpse of this institute are left with no option but to climb the gates or walls to get inside.
A bigger shock awaits one inside the institute. The inside view of the neglected tourism project, which was unveiled on February 28, 2009, by then tourism and culture minister Debiprasad Mishra, is all the more disturbing.
All the statues of the Panchasakha are either lying broken or surrounded by dry leaves or weeds.
The Bakula Bana tourism project was launched in 2005-06 and executed with funding from both the Centre and the state government.
“The project got a good response in the first year. But now, no one comes here, as the two main gates remain locked. We scaled the walls to enter the institute and visit its premises. The tourism department should ensure that the gates are manned here and that tourists do not return without being able to visit the site,” said Dillip Kumar Subuddhi, a tourist.
“The statue of Gopabandhu, the most prominent of the five leaders, is surrounded by overgrowth. The other statues are either broken or not maintained properly. As the project bears the memory of the pre-Independence education system, we should be more pro-active to preserve it,” he said.
Tourist officer of Puri Bijay Jena told The Telegraph: “Though the project was developed by the state tourism department, it was later transferred to the Sri Sri Satyabadi Gopinath Endowment, which is the administrative body of the Satyabadi Gopinath temple and the owner of the school’s land. The temple administration should have taken responsibility for the site’s management, but it never happened.”
He, however, said that the public accounts committee of the Assembly had taken some steps and the tourism department would take up issues of management of the Bakula Bana project.
Biswabasi Tripathy, executive officer of Sri Sri Satyabadi Gopinath Endowment, said: “The temple trust has suggested some changes to the memorandum of understanding which was floated by the tourism department. Once the changes are made, the project may again be handed over to the tourism department for operation and maintenance.”
Chairman of the Assembly’s public accounts committee Prasad Harichandan expressed displeasure over the way the tourism and the endowment authorities were managing the tourism project.
“The Bakula Bana is a heritage site which speaks about the five great leaders’ contribution to the state’s development in the past. Small issues related to its management should be resolved at the earliest so that the site can be redeveloped and tourists can enter the site.”
“The open school concept had many admirers and eminent educationists and nationalist leaders such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, former governor of Bihar and Odisha Sir Edward Get, vice-chancellors of Calcutta University Sir Devi Prasad Sarbadhikari and Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, Hemendra Sarkar, Van Caster all visited the school,” Harichandan said.
