Santiniketan, popularly known today as a university town, a hundred miles to the north of Kolkata, was originally an ashram built by Debendranath Tagore, where anyone, irrespective of caste and creed, could come and spend time meditating on the one Supreme God.

Shantiniketan, a veritable abode of peace and tranquility, is famous for the world renowned Viswa Bharati University founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921. The university has a unique setting for imparting education, with classes held in the open.

The Shantiniketan region in West Bengal is famous for its beautifully handcrafted leather handbags and other accessories available in unique colours and patterns with traditional motifs. Hand-painted Leather products are world famous for their appliqué, batik and embossed craft work using touch dying.

Santiniketan architecture is an eclectic fusion of art and design influenced from multiple lands ranging from countries far away like Japan to local Bangla type traditional households, and multiple time periods in Indian history, from ancient Buddhist and Brahmanical caves of Ajanta and Ellora to the Sultanate