Jorasanko Thakur Bari in Kolkata

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The Josasanko Thakur Bari in Kolkata is the birth place of Bengal's greatest poet Rabindranath Tagore. The highly progressive and influential Thakur family used to reside here. It is the ancestral home of the Tagore family which was built in the year 1784 by the poet's grandfather Prince Dwarkanath Tagore. Located to the North of Kolkata, the Jorasanko Thakur Bari is accounted as one of the heritage buildings of city. Here, the great legend was born in 7 th May 1861, spent half of his life here and also died here.

The name Jorasanko is so called because 'jora' meaning two wooden or bamboo bridges (sanko) overran a small stream at this particular place. Apart from the famous Thakur bari, Jorasanko is also the house of many other well known families of Bengal. The families of Dewan Banarasi Ghosh, Chandramohan Chatterji, Kaliprasanna Singhas, Krishnadas Pal used to reside here. This made the place called Jorasanko the epitome of the renaissance thought of Bengal.

Renowned cultural institutions of Bengal like the Adi Brahmo Samaj, the Jorasanko Bharati Natya Samaj, the Kalikata Haribhakti Pradayani Sabha, the Minerva Library and the Oriental Seminary were located here. So progressive was the ideologies of the Thakur family, unlike other women of those days, the women of the Thakur bari were highly advanced as they used to ride horses, wrote poetry and also involved in various social, philosophical and political discussions.

The Jorasanko Thakur Bari is now part of the Rabindra Bharati Campus and has been turned into a museum. Being the birth place of the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the house is highly revered by all. Visitors leave their shoes near the ticket counter before entering the building. One will get to see how a small lonely boy used to confide himself in a small room and gazed at the outer world with his dreamy eyes that lead to breeding of the intellectual and philosophical mindset of the great poet.

The Jorasanko Thakur Bari consists of many buildings. Edward Thompson in his book named "Rabindranath Tagore: His Life and Work" in (1921) describes the architectural brilliance of the Thakur bari as a "vast, rambling congeries of mansions and rooms, representing the whims of many generations." You will come to know a lot about the lifestyle and rituals of the Thakur family. You will get to see here the wonderful art works of Rabindranath Tagore and the famous painter Abanindranath Thakur. Beautiful light and sound effects magnify the heritage of the building to a great extent.