Kala Bhavan is a very important part of Rabindranath’s realized dream Santiniketan. It was established by “Mastermoshai” Nandalal Bose. Santiniketan is filled with his art works. It looks like a tableau of his artistic heritages.
As one enters in the campus of Kala Bhavan. A black coloured mud house attracts everyone's attention. What is this after all? This is a hostel for postgraduate students of Kala Bhavan. This was built years ago in 1936. Still, it remains the center of attraction for everyone. When new hostels were built, it was decided to demolish it, but Nandalal Bose did not allow it to be demolished. As a result, it stands demonstrating its beauty till date.
Earlier, it had thatched roof and it needed repairs every year for leakage due to Bengal’s heavy rains. Its mud walls had started to wear out. Therefore, the thatch roof was replaced by asbestos sheets. The walls of this mud house are about three feet thick; this provides protection from the extreme weather conditions of Santiniketan. Its windows are installed on the inner side of the wall which saves it from weathering in the rain and at the same time it does not disturb the beautiful sculptures on the outside wall. The walls all around this building are covered with ‘relief’ art works. These have been made together by Nandalal Bose, Ram Kinkar Baij and their disciples.

It is very interesting when we start looking at it. If we start from the road side, we can on the right side of the entrance door see, an old man who roams from village to village chanting Ram-Ram, carrying a monkey on his back. The old man has a hookah in his hand, he is probably going again somewhere. This is surrounded by the local palm trees and ‘Chhatim’ tree which are very common in Birbhum, this overall creates a very attractive environment. Next to it there is a Peacock and a lady doing her makeup, then a wounded lion made in Assyrian style standing thundering with all his power despite being injured. Once again, we can see in a simplified and artistic form of a group of palm trees and monkeys hanging on it. A very common sight in Birbhum. Now it is the turn of the Rajasthani Ship i.e., camel. But camels are not found here in Birbhum. Perhaps at some point the camel may have been brought here in some fair or so and impressed by its strange structure, the artist has carved its form on the wall. Then there is the replica of Harappan bull a sign of the beginning of our civilization, which stands as a symbol of strength. This is followed by works made in Egyptian style as well as the yakshi from the 'Bharhut' stupa showcasing her beauty. The statue of Ram made in south Indian style is also quite attractive. One can also find the remains of a painted mural between these two works which is now almost destroyed. Then comes some forms of traditional Indian art i.e., the replica of the statues made in cave temples. In between, there is image of 'Baul' a popular folk singer of West Bengal and a panel based on the stories from religious texts. The statue of a mother and child is very interesting and quite attractive, which has been carved inwards.

All these skillfully made sculpture surprises the efficiency and intelligence of these artists. Made in different styles of India and the west, these works contain the message of world unity.
One wonders as to why such beautiful reliefs are covered in black? There are two reasons for that. Black color gives a sense of heaviness in anything. Here this colour gives this architecture a vastness and brings heaviness in the sculptures and secondly, black colour doesn’t get dirty easily. In addition, this is not paint it is bitumen which protects this mud house from rain.
This is the brief introduction of 'Black House' or 'Kalo-Bari' in Bengali, always reminds us of 'Mastermoshai'. Initially, it was named 'Saptaparni' because it was built under the Saptaparni tree locally called Chhatim tree, but in course of time, its name changed. However, it is now getting bad from everywhere. It needs to be repaired, otherwise this invaluable wealth will be soon lost.

-Sanjay Kumar Singh
November

27, 1986

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Post script: This article was published in Hindi in a daily newspaper called ‘Aryawart’
from Patna, Bihar. This was an assignment given by Late Prof. Ajit Chakravarty to write
about Black House in our foundation classes. He liked it and encourage me to publish it in
newspaper in my state, so the people of Bihar should know about this marvelous building.