Amar Kutir - History - Early Years

Early Years

In 1922, on an invitation from Rabindranath Tagore, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, just released after imprisonment for political activities, visited Santiniketan. Sushen Mukherjee, a young man, met him there. Mukherjee had been associated with the revolutionary movement for Indian independence for some years. His meeting with Gandhi led to the setting up of Amar Kutir in 1927.

Sushen Mukherjee, the founder of Amar Kutir was born late in the eighteenth century, hailing from a remote suburb of Calcutta City, in youth, imbibed with Ramakrishna Vedanta Culture and ideology wandered vehemently to find an answer to query “What is the purpose of life!” Out of this yearning he moved around criss-cross all over India and even traveled to distant Tibet like a wandering monk. During this period of churning invocation, perhaps, he realized that one's first and foremost purpose of life should be “to free yourself from the bondage of foreign rule”. Thus provoked by this self-esteemed ideology and compulsion, together with the then under current of freedom movement spearheaded by none, other than Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Ballav Bhai Patel et al., all those first ranked Indian Freedom fighters, he plunged himself into the freedom movement of India. Thus he even met Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Bose et al. when the movement was at its zenith.

At this juncture his thought veered round the idea as to how, so many young and youthful boys being involved in freedom movement, would help maintain their day to day living. Because, most of them are fugitives and obviously were out of their families. His idea was to find a haven which would be remote, human inhabitant free, preferably in the midst of woods to hoodwink cudgels and piercing eyes of ever alert British Police and work on where they could work on sari printing, handloom and leather craft production.. So fortunately he found a place measuring 100 acres (0.40 km2), around remotest area of Birbhum district in West Bengal, kissing the banks of river Kopai. It happened to be not very far from Bolepur, Shantiniketan, of today. Then he gradually established the rudiments of cottage industry. And he named the place 'Amar Kutir' (my abode).

In 1930, Amar Kutir was raided by the British rulers and Mukherjee was put behind bars for political activities. With Mukherjee behind bars till 1937, the activities of Amar Kutir came to a halt.