Painting exhibition by Jamini Roy was what I set out for. As I drove down up and down the bridges, crossing Salt Lake, taking the New Township Road I reached Nazrul Tirtha in no time. Just between the Coal India building and DLF, Nazrul Tirtha stood out prominently. The cultural center at Rajarhat is a HIDCO project. There was a spacious area for parking and unlike in other areas of the city. As I walked into Nazrul Tirtha I discovered that there was more to the place than I had expected.

To begin with I went through the collection of paintings displayed. The exhibition inaugurated by eminent artist Jogen Chowdhury, academician Bharati Roy and HIDCO Chairman Debashis Sen was a retrospective presented to art lovers.  On the opening day a catalogue was also released which reproduced essays on Jamini Roy by John Irwin, Bishnu Dey and Santa Devi.

While viewing the collection, I came to know that these 50 rare pieces of art were on loan from Rajya Charukala Parshad.  It was a wonderful experience looking at the collection by Jamini Roy who made the Kalighat patha chitra world-famous. Revisiting the thick brush strokes, colors of Bengal folk art and expressions bringing out Bengal so beautifully. Paintings by Jamini Roy have become globally known but there are about 700 of them still with Charukala Parshad. As you went from one painting to the next you could see the changes in style and inspiration over the years −from his early temperas (European style) to his later patachitra-inspired works.

Having spent a considerable amount to time carefully going from one painting to the other, I decided to take a tour around Nazrul Tirtha. Besides being a cultural centre there was a touch of modernity as one could watch popular cinema here too. I discovered an open-air and spacious theater which could be booked for performances. I sat there for a while enjoying  the architectural beauty of the place.

Besides the two art galleries on the ground and first floor I also walked into a small curio shop where you could pick up very selective mementos of Bengal. Nazrul Tirtha also has guest rooms to accommodate visitors in case they wished to stay back or was visiting the museum.

In the Nazrul Museum I found very well organised displays. The place is named after the poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The museum had some very rare photographs, paintings, some personal items and documents belonging to the poet. There was a chronological history of his life dating back to 1910 and his love for folk theatre. Later he joined leto, a traveling theatrical group and in 1912 joined Kabigaan which is a form of Bengali folk performance where folk poets write and sing folk songs in a group.  I also discovered that Kazi Nazrul Islam visited Shantiniketan in 1921 and met Rabindranath Tagore with Muhammad Shahidullah (from the former East Bengal) who was an educationist, writer, linguist, and philologist.

Had it not been for the exhibition of paintings by Jamini Roy I would have not stopped by and discovered this wonderful place for cultural activities in the area.

Nazrul Tirtha

AF Block, Action Area 1A, Bishwa Bangla Sarani, New Town, Kolkata – 700156

Ph:  +91 33 23246121. www.nazrultirtha.co.in

Painting exhibition by Jamini Roy was what I set out for. As I drove down up and down the bridges, crossing Salt Lake, taking the New Township Road I reached Nazrul Tirtha in no time. Just between the Coal India building and DLF, Nazrul Tirtha stood out prominently. The cultural center at Rajarhat is a HIDCO project.