Bhubaneswar According to a minister, the Odisha government resolved on Wednesday to rehabilitate and turn Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s Puri home into a museum.

A high-level review meeting chaired by Suryavanshi Suraj, Minister of the Odia Language, Literature, and Culture Department, made the decision in this regard.

He claimed that before it was abandoned, the home at the seashore served as a boys’ hostel for Samanta Chandra Sekhar College students.

The land at Chakratirtha Road was given to Tagore in 1939 by the British Indian prime minister of the time, according to historian and coordinator of the Odisha chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Anil Dhir. According to Dhir, the Tagore family had constructed a magnificent structure on the property and then gave it to the state government, which would use it to advance education.

“INTACH took up the issue by bringing it to the attention of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and then Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik when Puri Municipality decided to demolish the building because it was in such bad condition. In order to extend the road leading to the sea beach, the building’s perimeter wall was dismantled, but the building itself was preserved,” Dhir told PTI.

According to him, it is thought that Tagore spent some time writing his well-known poems, including “Pravasi,” “Janmadin,” and “Epare Opare,” while residing in this historic structure.

He claimed that this residence was also where a chunk of his well-known book Gitanjali was written.

Because of the building’s historical significance, locals, scholars, authors, and other notable individuals have been calling for its restoration. The building is currently in a condition of disrepair and requires renovation, Dhir added.

“The building was not repaired after it suffered a huge damage in cyclone Fani that hit Puri in 2019,” claimed the official.

In the meantime, INTACH has been consulted by the state government over the building’s conservation.

The high-level meeting also decided to include a “Theme Pavilion” featuring notable Odia writers and their creations in the next Cuttack Bali Yatra, which will begin on November 5.

In addition to Indonesia, a significant state in the country will also be invited as a partner state under the ‘Ek Bharat Sreshtha Bharat’ initiative. According to the minister, some South Asian nations will also be asked to send their cultural delegations.

The meeting also voted to fill all open positions in the Culture Department’s Bibhuti Kanungo, Khallikote Charu, Karukala Colleges, Utkal Music College, and Culture University, as well as to give financial support to Gajalakshmi Puja pandals in the Kendrapara area.