Scores of people reached Mungpoo on Monday on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, only to find out that they could not enter Rabindra Bhawan, the bungalow where Tagore would stay during his visit to the Darjeeling hills.

The bungalow’s repair work that had been taken up by the state PWD in December last year is still in progress. Entry of visitors is barred.

“One could only visit the bungalow premises and pay homage to Tagore’s statue that is standing there. But no one could enter inside to see different items that were used by Tagore during his stay. This is disappointing,” said Tanmoy Goswami, a Tagore enthusiast in Siliguri who has visited Mungpoo a number of times in the past.

Officials of the Darjeeling district administration and the district information and cultural affairs department, who went to Mungpoo to celebrate Tagore’s birth anniversary, had to organise the event outside the bungalow.

“Since the past few months, hundreds of visitors come to visit Rabindra Bhawan. But they have to return after visiting the exterior part of it, as the renovation work that started about six months back, is still going on,” said Sisir Routh, the caretaker of the bungalow.

Before this, the bungalow was last renovated in 2000 by the state urban development and municipal affairs department.

“This building is perhaps the first memorial archive of Tagore that was declared a memorial after his name back in May, 1944. Visitors can see the chair, bed and other furniture used by the poet. The poet during his stay at Mungpoo, had also developed a knack of practising biochemical medicine. The bottles which he used are still there in the house. Also, his paintbrushes, pencils, pens and colours are also here,” Routh added.

It was in 1938 when the Nobel laureate had visited Mungpoo for the first time and had stayed at Suriel bungalow, which was the guesthouse of the cinchona plantations. Later, Manmohan Sen, the husband of Maitrayee Devi who was the director of the quinine factory then, had invited the poet to this bungalow, which was their official residence.

Tagore, who had visited Mungpoo twice in 1939 and in 1940 for the last time, had penned a number of poems during his stay at this bungalow. They include “Janmadin,” “Sanai” and “Nabojatok.”

Local sources said that the renovation was supposed to be done in 90 days but only 30 percent of the work was done in six months.

Responding to this charge, a senior administrative officer said that they would take up the matter with the contractor who has been assigned to repair the bungalow.