Banalakshmi

Banalakshmi (Bengali: বনলক্ষ্মী) or Banalakshmi Unmesh Samiti (বনলক্ষ্মী উন্মাদ সমিতি) is a Krishi Ashram (কৃষি আশ্রম) run as a small Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in the Birbhum (বীরভূম) district of West Bengal. It is located near Santiniketan (শান্তিনিকেতনে), the education centre set up by Rabindranath Tagore. It is connected by a highway to Ilambazar (ইলামবাজার) and Bolpur (বোলপুর). The bus stop name is Banabhila (Bengali: বনভিলা). The Choupahari sal forests (Bengali: চৌপাহাড়ীর শাল জঙ্গল), commonly known as Ilambazar forest, (Bengali: ইলামবাজার জঙ্গল) starts from here.

History

'Banalakshmi' means the richness ('Lakshmi' - লক্ষী) of forest ('Bana' - বন). Here forest implies nature in general. It was the brainchild of Niranjan Sanyal, a scion of the Mymensingh and Puthia Raj families, whose idea was to set up a farm on the barren lands of Birbhum in 1963 (১৩৭০). Relinquishing his claims to his ancestral entitlements, he came out with his mother, Kohinoor Debi, to set up a farm at the edge of a sal (শাল) forest close to Sriniketan (শ্রীনিকেতন). The farm was to evolve in to an ecosphere - bettering the lives of the local people through the optimum utilization of natural resources. In 1964 (১৩৭১) Parbati Bhattacharya (পার্বতী ভট্টাচার্য) had joined this mission and devoted her life to the development of the farm. There were two others who were inspired by this vision. They were Sumitra Sinha (সুমিত্রা সিংহ) from neighbouring Vishwabharati University (বিশ্বভারতী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) in Santiniketan (শান্তিনিকেতনে) and Kannan Pal (কানন পাল), a trained nurse from Kundagaon (কুন্দগাঁও) (near Jagdalpur) (জগদলপুর) in undivided Madhya Pradesh (মধ্য প্রদেশ). They joined the farm within a few years of its setting up. Since its inception, when it was completely devoid of vegetation, it has been continuously growing and today it is a large green reserve and a center for rural development.

Vegetation

It is spread over an estimated area of 40 (৪০) bigha (বিঘা) (around 13 (১৩) acres). It has vegetation grown on laterite soil which is the abundant red soil found in Birbhum. It has large forested tracts, orchards of various fruits, such as mango (আম) and guava and multiple crop cultivation all the year round. The place is admirable for its scenic beauty too. The road leading to Banalakshmi is also lined by dense to sporadic occurrence of tropical desiduous trees such as sal (শাল) and eucalyptus (ইউক্যালিপ্টাস).

Economy

It is a center of a small cottage industry. Various products like honey, squash and handicrafts are prepared and sold here. It is also an attractive tourist destination in the district.

Contact

•Address: Banalakshmi Unmesh Samiti, Banabhila, P.O. Dwaranda (via Sriniketan P.O.), Birbhum-731236. •Contact Nos.: +919434233376 & +919434557527. •Distance: 13/14 km towards Shantiniketan to Ilambazar.

External links

• For more details see Dr. Rina Mukherjee, Of Forests
• Banalakshmi Blog