From renovated rare paintings to a refurbished and digitized library, the university established in 1857 has undergone a much-needed transformation.
These days, regular visitors to the main campus of the University of Calcutta – on College Street – are returning to heritage buildings on official work after a long hiatus. COVID-19 Pandemic – Often a break in disbelief: Have we come to the right place?
The look one associates with a typical university campus in Kolkata: neglect of weathered buildings, bad furniture, walls painted with political slogans (and echoed as well), a place accustomed to seeing more demonstrations outside the classroom. .
Today the complex, dating back to January 1857, has seen a rebirth. Restoration began in 2017, but since the complex has reopened after a prolonged shutdown, the process appears to be overnight.
The most extensive changes have taken place in Darbhanga Bhawan – it was the Raja of Darbhanga who donated generously for the establishment of the university – which serves as the administrative wing of the university and is the oldest existing structure.
treasure found
The Senate Hall, Syndicate Hall and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, located in this building, have gone through a total transformation. Longtime staff and regular visitors recall that these rooms were in extremely dilapidated condition. A tea seller had made himself at home in the Senate Hall, from where he used to sell tea. The paintings on the wall had been covered with dirt over the years and were hardly visible.
“In 2015, when I was Pro-VC (Finance) and a team from UGC (University Grants Commission) was coming to us, I strongly demanded that we be given funds for the renovation. It was a weeping historical necessity,” recalled Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee – an alumnus and professor at the university and the driving force behind the renovation – while speaking to Hindu.
His promotion as VC in 2017 finally kicked off the project. While the West Bengal Public Works Department was engaged to carry out structural renovations, renowned artist and chairman of the West Bengal Heritage Commission, Subhaprasanna, was brought in to restore the rare artifacts that had been abandoned, and the hall’s elegant, old-world look. attractions and corridors. By 2020, the restoration was complete, with COVID-19 keeping regular traffic away.
“Not only antique furniture, even several rare paintings, including original paintings by Jamini Roy and Nandalal Bose, were rotting in the godown. The level of neglect was shocking,” Prof. Chakraborty Banerjee said.
Today the wide corridors and staircases are neat and once again in the eyes of university dignitaries – Indian and British alike – whose statues have been shielded from different corners of the campus.
The Senate Hall – also known as Darbhanga Hall – is a treat for visitors: look at the rows of neatly arranged rattan chairs, restored paintings of dignitaries, each with a supporting caption. In a small conference room attached to the hall, on display are a rare Jamini Roy – a mother and child, but not in her trademark style, a portrait of Mirza Ghalib and a chair from 1810, presented to the university by Prodyot Coomer Was. Tagore.
modernized, accessible
The huge library, located in another wing, also underwent a complete renovation last year, and is now not only open to the public, but its contents have also been digitized and placed in the public domain. Now anyone, anywhere in the world, can access a range of articles, journals and dissertations including rare issues Calcutta Review Dating back to 1844 and Tagore Law Lecture dating back to 1870.
“We are responsible not only to our students and our faculty, but as a public institution, to citizens as well as to the world. Learning should not be restricted by borders,” said Prof. Chakraborty Banerjee, who is in his second term as VC.
The charismatic VC has also been in the news recently as the university has been ranked high on the list in international as well as national rankings – and not the best among Indian universities in the Shanghai rankings. 4th among universities in NIRF Ranking 2021.
Apart from the library, the public will also soon be allowed access to the University Museum, which is still under renovation.
The only thing that seems strange in the new surroundings is the statue of Rabindranath Tagore, which was installed in the complex in recent decades.
Standing on the lawn between Darbhanga Bhawan and Shatabdi Bhawan (built in the 1960s when the original 1857 structure was torn down), the Nobel laureate looks away from the heritage structure. The joke among the university fraternity was that Tagore was so unhappy with the current education system that he chose to look away from Darbhanga Bhavan – the administrative wing. Given the dramatic changes in the university, the poet may wish to change the direction of his vision, but this is not possible unless the statue is replaced.
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