In the year 1961, as a part of centenary celebration of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the then Chief Minister Dr. Bidhan Chandra Ray legally procured the house where Rabindranath was born, spent a major part of his life and breathed his last. Finally a museum was established in this two hundred and seventeen year old building "Jorasanko Thakurbari" on 8^th May by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India.

In its inception the museum covered approximately 3000 sq.ft. floor area with forty original paintings of Rabindranath acquired from Rathindranath Tagore by West Bengal Govt. and hundred photographs came as a permanent loan from National Library. The Museum is an integral part of the Rabindra Bharati University, established in 1962, for the advancement of the highest education in various disciplines of Humanities and Performing Arts.

The main objective behind such establishment was to perpetuate the memory of the great poet Rabindranath as well as the part played by the other eminent members of this illustrious family in the resurgence of Bengal during 19^th Century.