Shantiniketan, West Bengal:

West Bengal’s Birbhum district has a small town, Shantiniketan, which is near Bolpur, and approximately 180 kilometers north of Kolkata.

Shantiniketan was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who dreamt of the university town for the famous Visva-Bharati University.

Shantiniketan gradually developed into a sacred place and people from all religions were encouraged to unite for prayers and contemplation. The landscape of Shantiniketan is very charming for its blending of chain of date palms and Chhatim trees, red soil and pasture of fertile green paddy fields. Popular celebrations like Poush Mela, Basanta Utsav attracts a large number of tourists every year, where, rural artisans sale their merchandise like the most famous Shantiniketan Leather bags, batik printed materials, paintings, earthen wares, etc.