DEHRADUN: Ramgarh's 'Tagore Top' where Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore resided in the early 1900s and composed parts of his Magnum Opus 'Gitanjali' will get a campus of Visva-Bharati University, Shantinekitan, said union human resources development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'.
"Approval has been granted by the university last month. It was a proud moment for Uttarakhand and Kumaon that our land was blessed with the presence of such a legend. The campus will enable students to explore hordes of opportunities in multiple streams," said the HRD minister.
The minister while addressing a virtual rally in Ramnagar of Nainital district on Tuesday also added that the campus will add to the rich heritage of Kumaon division of Uttarakhand.
Visva-Bharati University was founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in 1921 as a college which was accorded the status of a central university in year 1951. 'Visva-Bharti' literally translates to 'the communion of the world with India'.
The 'Tagore Top' hill is located in Ramgarh Nainital district at a place called Mahesh Khan on Bhowali-Ramgarh road.
To reach the Tagore Top where Gurudev resided in 1903 one has to trek around 4-5kms. At around 5000ft above the sea level, the cottage is now in ruins waiting for its revival.
Tagore stayed in this once-spacious house with his terminally ill daughter Renuka Devi in 1903 who suffered from tuberculosis and is said to have composed parts of the 'Gitanjali' which got the Nobel Prize in 1913.
Tagore also resided in Almora in 1927 and 1937 for some time where Tagore Bhawan still stands.
After his daughter passed away due to tuberculosis in 1903 only, Tagore kept returning to the house in 1914, 1927 and 1937 and declared to his relatives that the place was ‘special’ which is now in shambles.
Pijus Mandal (47), a former Cambridge University alumnus based in Haridwar who formed a group leading the efforts to restore the house and collecting funds said, "This is a welcome move and dream come true. I hope this will take the shape of reality soon. What better can be done with the residing place of Gurudev than the open campus of one of his lifetime work."
Ramgarh, about 22kms from the lake city Nainital and seldom witnesses the rush of tourism like Nainital, Bhimtal, Almora, Kausani, Mukteshwar and Ranikhet.
The quaint town is also known as a ‘Fruit bowl of Kumaon’ for its fruit laden orchards of plums, apricots, peaches and apples.