Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

An untitled Tagore painting of a “couple”, from the 1930s, was auctioned by Christie’s on September 22, with a price estimate of between $120,000 and $180,000 (Rs 88 lakh-Rs 1.3 crore). But, the said painting was sold out at the price of Rs. 4.7 Crore ($637,500). The name of the buyer although not disclosed.  The painting was acquired directly from Rabindranath Tagore by Edith Andreae, a literary executor and editor of the works of her brother, Walther Rathenau, and her banker husband in Berlin, Friedrich. It was passed on in the Rathenau family as an heirloom. Rathenau was a German industrialist, writer and liberal He considered the painting as “a national treasure”, the painting, mixed media on paper laid on card, measures 56.8cm x 45.7cm, “considerably larger than most of his works”. Christie’s tells prospective buyers that although Tagore “is still best known for his poetry and songs, his importance as an artist was recognised when he became one of nine painters designat...

I visited the Sati Shaktipeeth Kankalitala with my own and my younger brother's family last winter. It was a pleasant journey by car from Rampurhat of Birbhum district. We started our journey at about 9 am from my elder sister's house at Rampurhat. On the way we took rest at some market place for breakfast. After that, we again moved by car for our destination Kankalitala.            Finally, we crossed about 63 kms and reached at the desired Shaktipeeth after one and half an hour.           When we reached there, we saw that a good number of beggers were sitting on both side of the entrance road. We slowly crossed the road and entered into the main premises of the temple. The temple is a traditional 'pacca' construction with adjacent 'Nat Mandir' for the devotees and pilgrims. At that morning time, some of family's were busy with the rituals of goddess and some of them came for...