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My last visit to Santiniketan was about 8 years ago. Then, we planned a trip here again after so long.. 8 years may not seem very long.. but the way tourism is changing or maybe to be more specific, post-pandemic how the ways of travelling are changing among people, it’s incredible. I did go to Shantiniketan 2 years back with my friends on a long drive, however, that was a very brief visit, we went to the haat, had lunch, the Kopai market was closed for puja that time, and we didn’t come into town.. hence we didn’t realise the change the place has gone through in all these years.. but this recent long weekend was surprisingly implausible.
Keeping the ‘brief visit’ at a corner.. my last 2 visits 8 years back were way too pleasant.. even though every time I went right after the Durga puja, and there used to be a lot of tourists that time, but Shantiniketan never has been crowded. I stayed at the same place, it still has the same charm, those trees, the calm nature.. I still love it. Only the place was a lot calmer back then. Less number of vehicles passing through then, the numbers are lot more and throughout the day & night now. Feels like I am talking about some other era, some different time zone.. as we go further I will actually tell you of the differences we experienced.. it actually felt like we were indeed from some different time or we gave a huge gap in between and now we needed our own time to adjust with the havoc changes the place has undergone.
I am thinking where do I start.. let’s start with our routine there.. so DAY 1:
We reached Bolpur station by afternoon. We took a toto (they charge Bomb & you better bargain), our stay was near the Biswa Bharati campus, we negotiated at 150 rs for a toto. My elder brother joined the tour with us, he had come from the bus station and he was charged the normal fare, just 40 rs!!! Lucky ehh!!
For lunch, we went to the market area, which is about 10 minutes walking distance away.. as we walked our way out to find some restaurants, the old ones were not to be found; though I loved finding the sugarcane juice stall right at the same place where we used to see all those years back. That was quite comforting.
For the restaurants, there were 2-3 options available in the afternoon, all packed and service-wise not good. I will suggest taking a toto and going to Kopai side. there are plenty of options available these days.
If you follow my old blog, we used to visit the same market area in the evening as all the shops lined up there, are selling so many things. We repeated the same this time as well, and boom.. where were we??
There are fast food stalls everywhere, so many vehicles on the roads, so many people.. so hard to walk. Then those shops are still there, only the numbers are more, there are cafes, who open in the evening only. We walked for at least 20 minutes and that entire stretch was full of shops and street-side stalls, selling so many things. I found saree shops were very few this time, more of bags, home décor, hand-made jewellery or food corners were more. The place was buzzing..
Previously, dinner had to be at the homestay/ hotel as there were hardly any restaurants servicing at night, moreover, the place was very quiet at that time.. now till 11 pm, there are people on the street, eating, having dinner.. everything possible. You understand my dilemma right.. I am not complaining, it’s just that I was so overwhelmed to accept these extravagant changes.
DAY 2:
We had a whole day to run around. We wanted to take a tour of the town and then spend our afternoon at the Haat by the Kopai River. But we didn’t want to take extensive sightseeing, just to touch a few.
We started with Kankhalitala temple, as we wanted to offer puja there. Now 8 years back, there were hardly any tourists visiting the temple, now you have to have at least 1:30-2 hours to get a darshan of the deity. Imagine this!! Though it is all well managed, no jostling in the crowd, a peaceful crowd moving slowly to the temple. offer your puja.. there are many (really many) shops to buy the offerings from. If you want to have Bhog/ Prasadma there, then you have to wait till 12 in the afternoon. We skipped that, as we had more places to cover. Our toto driver took us to a nice restaurant named 16 ana Bengali closer to the temple area, which mainly caters to tourists who come from this temple and for lunch as well.. as they were ready to serve.
Museum:
This was the first time I went to the museum, as every time I used to go during puja, the place used to remain closed. The museum is good, huge but it was crowded. We skipped many rooms as it wasn’t possible to enter and the place closes by 1 pm and reopens in late afternoon. So just managed a few corners and came out.
Points to note:
- Entrance ticket is RS. 75 per adult/ (charge for DSLR is separate If I remember correctly)
- You are not allowed to take big bags inside, have to deposit in their locker room (for free but have to be collected before they close for lunch)
- Post-pandemic, you are not allowed to enter the rooms once resided by Rabindranath Thakur and family, you see them from the door frames.
Silpogram:
Then we went to the Silpogram, where small houses from 22 states of the country are built, to show the cultural aspects. This, we had been to before, but we went again as my cousin hadn’t been here. It’s a very nice place as you come close to the local art of various parts of the country and you can spend a good 40 minutes to an hour here.
Points to note:
- Entrance fee is 20 rs. Per adults/ DSLR charge is additional
Biswabharati:
I am so thankful that I did come here 8 years back, at that time, tourists were allowed to go inside the Biswabharati campus and see the place. Now you only get to see the place from outside. The toto drives you through the campuses, in some places you get a photo stop and that’s it.. your Bishwabharati tour is over.
Budha Stupa: we also took a small photo stop at the Buddha Stupa. It was built in recent years, as another tourist spot by the village.
Rajbari:
About 2-3 km from the Kopai haat, this place is comparatively new. Now under the government’s surveillance, you should give a visit to the Rajbari. Very simple, painted white, it has a very peaceful vibe. No entrance fees required. Just go for it.
Amar Kutir:
It’s basically a shop selling local products. We skipped it, as we wanted to go to the Haat by now. We also skipped the deer park which is another attraction.
The HAAT by the Kopai river:
My last impression was a big area by the Kopai River, so many sellers selling local handicrafts. Saree, handmade ornaments, home décor, handmade toys, Baul songs.. and it was so beautiful!!!
Cut to year 2024.. and the Haat in front of us was a massive area and buzzing beyond my imagination.. so many traders lined up.. only a round of the entire Haat took us 45 minutes. Then we had to decide as to what to buy. The haat is kind of a trendsetter. They change with time. There were clothes for men, women, kids and the variety.. was inexplicable. There were folk dancers everywhere, Baul singers playing with their ektara, handmade jewellery.. so many of their kinds, handmade bags.. phew!! You are all allowed to get confused, lose all your money shopping more and more.. it was crazy. Both my brother and the head of the family were exhausted (with our shopping spree, of course).. but if you love shopping, then this is a paradise for you. Budget shopping, variety of shopping.. it’s all for you. We spent about 3 hours that too our toto driver chased us out as it was getting late by then.
Though a lot of hassle because of the scorching heat, influx of tourists, it was great.
In all these changes, 2 things remained the same:
- The dahi/ rabdi sellers at the haat, the Dahi still tastes the same
- And our Toto driver. I had lost his contact and on our first day when we were coming back from lunch to sip some sugar cane juice, a lot of toto drivers were approaching for sightseeing.. & I found him there. He also recognised me. My last 2 visits, he was the one taking us everywhere, and he was happy to take us around this time as well.
- At present the toto drivers charge some 1200-1600 for a day.. which you have to bargain. Since we knew him, he agreed to take us for 700 rs. And we were sorted. My father prefers paying for the meals where possible, so he had his breakfast with us.
Travel Tips:
- Long weekends are better to be avoided after witnessing such emerging crowd and you miss the essence of the place as per me
- March has started becoming too hot. OCT- FEB is a good time to plan your trip here
- 2-3 nights are suggested for a stay
- Don’t mind filling yourself with glasses and glasses of Fresh sugar cane juice, as they are fresh and so good.
- Umbrellas/ sunscreen/ caps have to be in your must-packed items
- Don’t miss having hot and fresh Alur chop in the evening.. as this place sells one of the best Alur chops in all of Bengal
For more information, please have a look at my old blogs on Shantiniketan.. and that was it. Our short weekend trip to Shantiniketan, and there will be another one very soon.. let’s see how soon we make it..
Will be back with my next travel story after a while now, till then love travelling, keep travelling and love yourself.
TurtleGotWings 
Thank you for this thoughtful travel story it helped me almost feel the sights, sounds and old-world charm of Shantiniketan all over again.
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thank you for taking some time to leave a love response.. made my day..
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