C T Online Desk: The 82nd anniversary of the death of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore will be observed today.
Rabindranath Tagore died at the age of 80 on August 7, 1941, according to the Gregorian calendar. But, his death anniversary is observed in Bangladesh on Sraban 22 of the Bangla calendar.
Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European poet to win the Nobel prize for literature. He won it in 1913 for Song Offerings, the English translation of Gitanjali, an anthology of his lyric poems.
His compositions were chosen by two countries as their national anthems — Bangladesh’s Amar Shonar Bangla and India’s Jana Gana Mana.
Different organisations, namely Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Chhayanaut and others will pay tribute to Tagore organising special programmes in the capital.
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy will organise a programme titled Rabindranath o Bangabandhu at the National Music and Dance Centre Auditorium at 6:30pm while Chhayanaut will organise a programme at Chhayanaut Sanskriti Bhaban at Dhanmondi at 7:00pm.
Besides, different TV channels, namely Bangladesh Television, Channel i, Banglavision and others will telecast special programmes.
Rabindranath left a profound mark on Bengali culture through his music and the performing arts.
He wrote his first poem at the age of eight and wrote his first substantial collection of poems under the pen name Bhanushingha.
He composed about 2,230 songs, wrote eight novels, 84 short stories and countless poems and they remain a source of inspiration for the Bengalis.
The youngest of the 14 children of Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi, Rabindranath was nurtured in a culture-infused atmosphere of the famous Tagore family.
Rabindranath was also a trend-setter playwright who penned plays Raktakarabi, Dak Ghar, Achalayatan and others.
He spent a good portion of his time in then East Bengal, now Bangladesh. He composed many immortal poems and songs while staying at Shilaidaha in Kushtia, Shahzadpur in Sirajganj and Patishar in Naogaon.
Many of his compositions reflect this period, where the poet and writer depicted nature seen through a cycle of seasons.
In 1915, Tagore was conferred knighthood which he renounced later in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Rabindranath founded Visva Bharati University at Santiniketan in 1921, which played an important role in melding local knowledge with modern European learning, attracting scholars from all over the world.
