Tagore was born in Kolkata in the year 1861 as per the Gregorian calendar and in 1268 according to the Bengali calendar. He passed away in 1941, aged 80.
Tagore is revered around the world for his remarkable contributions to the fields of literature, music and art. He was a massive cultural icon who wore many hats including poet, writer, composer, social reformer and educationist, to name a few. In his memory, cultural programmes and events are held on Rabindra Jayanti.
He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913—the first non-European to do so—for his acclaimed collection of poems titled Gitanjali. The Nobel committee said Tagore was awarded the prestigious prize "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West."
In order to reform classroom education, Tagore set up a university of his own—Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, West Bengal—using the cash prize he received with the Nobel as well as funds collected from around the world. Rabindra Jayanti is celebrated on a large scale at Santiniketan, mainly at Visva-Bharati.
Tagore is the only person as per historical records to have written the national anthem for two countries. He wrote Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem for India, and Amar Sonar Bangla, the national anthem for Bangladesh. Further, some historians claim he deeply influenced the Sri Lankan national anthem as well.
If it is an attestation to Tagore’s deep influences, it was he who conferred the title ‘Mahatma’ on Gandhi. The two were close acquaintances despite their disagreements on several issues such as nationalism and the economy.
To remember Tagore, the man who reshaped India’s art and culture, Rabindra Jayanti celebrations involve singing Rabindra Sangeet which is a collection of over 2,230 songs composed by him, dances, drama, writing, poetry recitation and more. Decades after his death, his work still inspires young artists around the world.
