Kolkata, Feb 28 (IANS) Thousands of people Sunday celebrated Holi or Basanta Utsav (spring festival) with songs, dance and other cultural programmes in West Bengal's Shantiniketan, 'an abode of peace' established by nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Shantiniketan, about 180 km from Kolkata, was a picture of gaiety as students and teachers of Visva Bharati University took out rallies within the campus celebrating the festive fervour and danced to the tunes of Tagore's songs.

Many people were seen smearing colour (abir or gulal) on each other and exchanging sweets and pleasantries to mark the festival of Basanta Utsav.

Tagore had reintroduced Holi as Basanta Utsav in the Visva Bharati University he founded in Birbhum district's Shantiniketan.

Tagore first started Shantiniketan as an open-air school but gradually it turned into an internationally-acclaimed university and was named as Visva Bharati. Over the years, Shantiniketan became a common platform where cultures of the east and the western world could mingle, strengthening the fundamental concept of world peace.

According to university sources, thousands of tourists from within the country and abroad also thronged Shantiniketan Sunday to soak in the colours of Basanta Utsav.

The festival fervour was also seen in other parts of the state, a day before Holi is celebrated in northern and western India.

As the day progressed, people were seen moving around in groups in their respective neighbourhoods, hurling water balloons and smearing coloured powder on one another.