Visva-Bharati University, University in Santiniketan, India.
This educational institution in Santiniketan covers about 1,128 acres with teaching buildings and open spaces for instruction. Large mango trees provide shade for outdoor classes, while paved paths connect the different faculties and institutes across the grounds.
Rabindranath Tagore founded a college here in 1921 that aimed to promote learning beyond rigid classrooms. The Indian Parliament elevated the institution to a central university with national status in 1951.
The name translates as "where the world makes its home in a nest", referring to Tagore's vision of education crossing borders. Many classes still take place under open skies, where teachers and students sit together on mats beneath the shade of old trees.
Visitors reach the grounds from Bolpur railway station, about three kilometers away. Some areas are open to guests, while other zones remain reserved for students and faculty.
Bicycles serve as the main transport on campus, as students cover long distances between buildings daily. The institution also runs Kala Bhavana, an art school that displays works by former pupils in its own gallery.
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