A view of the recently renovated Tagore LodgeTagore Lodge, the ancestral house of Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore in Kushtia town has been converted into "Tagore Museum". The museum also houses a library.
At a cost of Tk 13 lakh, Kushtia municipality turned the lodge to a museum. The museum is drawing visitors now. Different cultural events are also held at the museum on various occasions.
Tourists from across the country as well as from overseas are coming to see this structure that is of significant historic value.
According to sources, Kushtia municipality took an initiative to preserve the lodge in 2002. The municipality took up a Tk 5 lakh project on January 26, 2002 to reconstruct the lodge. The municipal authority purchased the property from one Salima Khatun, who inherited it from the late Abdul Gafur.
According to sources, the local link to the Tagore family was severed when one Abdul Gafur bought out Tagore lodge at an auction many years ago. After the death of Gafur, his successors were residing in the lodge. Visitors had no access to the site.
The municipality floated a tender to rebuild the lodge and work started on November 9, 2003 only to stop soon due to fund constraint. After a lull, the present chairman of Kushtia municipality Anwar Ali resumed the reconstruction work in 2006 sanctioning Tk 7 lakh from the municipality fund.
The reconstruction work ended in 2008. In total there are seven rooms are in the two-storied building. The ground floor houses the museum and library and the first floor can accommodate cultural programme. Shamsuzzaman Khan, former director general of National Museum inaugurated the Tagore Museum in January this year.
The site is situated by the road leading to the Tagore Kuthibari at Shilaidah. Rabaindranath's elder brothers decided to set up an office at the lodge. The poet was also involved in the business venture called "Tagore and Company".
The use of the lodge as an office for Tagore and Company dates back to 1895. The company traded in raw materials including jute. Later, the company's main office shifted to Kolkata. Rabindranath gradually lost interest in business and handed over the company to an employee, Jagneshwar Roy, who renamed it Jagneshwar and Engineering Workshop.
Then Renwick and Company (established in 1891 by one William Renwick) and Jagneshwar started a joint venture renaming the company Renwick and Jagneshwar Company. The company still exists.
Converting the Tagore Lodge to a museum has generated much enthusiasm among the cultural activists and local people. Frontline cultural activists in the district expressed their appreciation and thanked to the municipality for taking the initiative.
Now different organisations are holding programmes at the museum on special occasions.
Anwar Ali, Mayor of Kushtia municipality, urged all around the country to cooperate in turning the museum and library into a success through contribution.
"We are trying to collect and preserve all the books written by Rabindranath and others related to the poet as well as other materials including films and photos," said the Mayor.
