Santiniketan: Tagore's school in West Bengal on the World Heritage List
Background
Santiniketan is in rural West Bengal.
The poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore founded it in 1901 as a residential school and centre for art based on ancient Indian traditions.
A 'world university' was established at Santiniketan in 1921, recognizing the unity of humanity or 'Visva Bharati'.
UNESCO inscribed Santiniketan on the World Heritage List in 2023 under the criteria (iv) and (vi).
The inscribed property covers 36 ha and its buffer zone covers 537.73 ha.
Its architecture draws on ancient, medieval and folk traditions of the region and represents a pan-Asian modernity, set apart from British colonial and European modernist styles.
In plain words
Buffer zone — An area around a World Heritage property that is given extra protection to shield the property itself.
Visva Bharati — The name of the world university at Santiniketan, meaning the unity of humanity.