Banalakshmi: Difference between revisions

'Banalakshmi' means the richness ('Lakshmi' - লক্ষী) of forest ('Bana' - বন). Here forest implies nature in general. It was the brainchild of [http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/uploads/2009/07/founder.doc 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.