New Delhi (Agency): The Jharkhand High Court has directed local authorities to improve and beautify Tagore Hill in Ranchi, a popular spot connected to the family of Nobel-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore. The court also called on the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to reconsider its decision not to label the structures on the hill as “ancient monuments.”
While hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra stated that the structures on the 300-meter high hill in the Moradabadi area should be considered of national importance. This is in contrast to ASI’s earlier view that the structures are not old enough to be called ‘ancient monuments.’
The hill was purchased by Jyotirindranath Tagore, Rabindranath’s elder brother, who was also a writer, social reformer, and composer. He built a house and a Brahmo Mandir, a structure for meditation, on the hill. The petitioner cited a Bengali book that mentions Jyotirindranath’s diary entry dated October 23, 1908, saying, “today the hill is registered.”
The court further instructed that all “encroachments should be removed” so the original boundaries of Tagore Hill are restored. It expressed hope that the state and the ASI would take “positive steps” for its implementation.
In another PIL, the court also directed the government to maintain the Rajrappa temple, devoted to Maa Chinnamastika, one of the 10 ‘Mahavidyas’ or Tantric goddesses. Located in the Ramgarh district, the temple is said to be about 6,000 years old and bears architectural similarities to the famous Kamakhaya temple in Assam. The court has ordered for proper toilets and changing rooms for the large number of devotees who visit the temple, and for improved lighting facilities on the riverbanks near the temple.
These rulings by the Jharkhand High Court emphasize the importance of cultural landmarks in the state and could set a precedent for similar sites across the country.
