The Tagore Research Institute has handed over eighteen letters written by Rabindranath Tagore to Pramathanath Bishi to Visva Bharati University (VBU). Till date all these precious letters have been preserved by the Tagore Research Institute.
From now onwards these 18 letters will be displayed and preserved at the Museum in Rabindra Bhawan of Visva Bharati University (VBU) in Shantiniketan. On this occasion, the daughter of Pramathanath Bishi, Chroshree Bishi Chakraborty, Professor Amal Pal of Rabindra Bhawan, former Governor of Tripura, Tathagata Roy, Saugata Roy, Professor Pabitra Sarkar etc were present. These 18 letters were preserved by the Tagore Research Institute for the past forty years. Pramathanath Bishi started his education in Brahma Visyavidyalaya in 1910.
At that time the Visva- Bharati University has not formed. He stayed there for seventeen years and became close with Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore. Pramathanath Bishi passed his matriculation in 1919 and was a prolific writer and critic. He was awarded the Rabindra Puraskar in 1960 and Vidyasagar Smiriti Puraskar in 1982. He was also a Rajya Sabha MP (nominated member) from 1972 to 1978.
He used to write several letters to Rabindranath Tagore and the Nobel Laureate replied to him several times. The 18 such letters was first published by Tagore Research Institute in 1979 under the collective title, “Wellwisher Rabindranath”. At the Rabindra Charcha Bhawan in Tagore Research Institute in Kalighat in Kolkata these 18 precious letters have been formally handed over to the Visva- Bharati University authorities.
Recently, Unesco has given World Cultural Heritage site tag to Shantiniketan and these 18 handwritten documents are expected to further boost tourism and enthusiasm amongst Tagore lovers and researchers. In September this year, Shantiniketan has bagged the Unesco World Heritage site tag