The birthplace of author Rudyard Kipling is to be converted into a tourist attraction by local government in India.
Kipling – who wrote classics including
The Jungle Book and
Just So Stories, plus a number of famous poems such as
Mandalay and
The White Man’s Burden – was born on 30 December, 1865, in what has been known as ‘Kipling Bungalow’ for more than a century.
The heritage bungalow, which sits on the campus of the Sir J.J. School of Art in south Mumbai, will be developed by the Maharashtra government to include a Kipling museum and library, with additional cultural events to be staged at the site to draw domestic and international tourists to the hotspot.
The original bungalow in which Kipling was born was demolished in the 1800s, but was rebuilt in 1882 and underwent a restoration between 2002 and 2008.
State Education and Cultural Affairs minister, Vinod Tawde, has proposed that the Indian government ensures the bungalow emerges as an important tourist hotspot, also giving the important site the historical respect he says it deserves.
Artefacts in the house would be maintained and displayed via funding from India’s culture department, which would also cover costs for further restoration on Kipling Bungalow.
