House owner to preserve plaque at Tagore’s abode in Shillong

Naba Bhattacharjee,one of the members of the delegation,said the owner of the demolished Sidhli House,Philip Pala,assured them that the plaque would be appropriately placed at the entrance of the new structure.

“Here lived Rabindranath Tagore in May and June,1927. His novel ‘Yogayug’ and poems ‘Susamay’ and ‘Debdaru’ were written here,” read the plaque.

Sidhli House at Upland Road in Laitumkhrah area,where the bard stayed during his last visit to Shillong in May-June 1927 and had penned some of his important works,was demolished by the owner last week.

Tagore had visited Shillong thrice.

According to records,the house originally belonged to an Italian,Louis Joseph Dalingrad,who had played host to the poet during his two month stay in Shillong.

The house was later purchased by the royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Sidhli in Goalpara district of Assam and subsequently changed hands before Pala bought it.