Global Watch

KAVI Guru Rabindra Nath Tagore’s Birth Day Observed With Solemnity

WARM Tribute was paid to Rabindra Nath Tagore, poet-philosopher and social reformer, by parliamentarians, academicians and people belonging to all walks of life on the occasion of his 157th birth anniversary observed across India and Bangladesh. The Indian bard born at his ancestral house in North Kolkata’s Jorasanko on May 8, 1861, and passed away there after prolonged illness on August 7, 1941, was the first Asian to have won the coveted Noble prize in 1913 for his collection of poems Geetanjali .Although he was basically a poet,he was also a novelist, lyricist, writer, painter , a teacher, seer and social  reformer .A widely travelled and well versed in Bengali, Sanskrit and English ,the self taught personality was among the earliest farsighted seer who had tried to convince the people about the importance of protecting  flora and fauna as well as  the eco system. And for this purpose, he initiated Vanomahotsov fest in his Gurukul which later emerged as Visva-Bharati University in Birbhum district of West Bengal. In Luyten’s New Delhi, several parliamentarians led by Lal Krishna Advani, veteran think- tank and former Deputy Prime Minister, assembled in the historic Central Hall of Parliament and offered floral tributes to his portrait.   Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Arjun Ram Meghwal; Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Statistics & Programme Implementation   Vijay Goel were among others who paid floral tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore .Secretary-General of Lok Sabha Smt. Snehlata Shrivastava, Senior Officers of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha Secretariats also paid floral tributes. Booklets containing the profile of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, brought out by the Lok Sabha Secretariat in Hindi and English, were presented to the dignitaries on the occasion. The portrait of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was unveiled by the then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, in the Central Hall of Parliament House on 12 September 1958. At the Visva-Bharati university in Shantineketan, set up by the bard, the day began early with its students singing the ‘Baitalik’ -prayer songs and ‘prabhat pheries’ -cultural procession early morning. A special prayer was also held at Udayan, the house in Shantiniketan where Tagore had celebrated his last birthday in 1941 before departing for Kolkata for treatment. According to English calendar, Tagore was born on May 7 but Bengalis celebrate the occasion as per the Bengali calendar 25th day of Baisakh which is on Wednesday. In Kolkata, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her colleagues joined people in observing the day after paying tribute to the great savant who still remains India’s cultural ambassador. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Dev and his Assam counterpart Sadanand Sonowal recalled Tagore’s contribution to their states’ and literary fields. Tagore was a great friend of then Tripura royals and frequented the then princely state. In Agartala artist Amit Modak shows a mini portrait of Rabindranath Tagore made of colours and glue on a one rupee coin to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Nobel laureate. In Bengaluru, Bengali Association celebrated ‘Kabi Guru’s birth anniversary with zeal and enthusiasm. Rabindranath Tagore was popularly known as “Gurudev.” His major works included Gitanjali (Song Offerings), a world-famous poetry book; Gora (Fair-Faced); Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World); and many other works of literature and art. Tagore was also a social reformer, and has modernized Bangla art and language. He made it possible to make art using different forms and styles. In Kolkata’s Rabindra Bharati University and state run auditorium Rabindra Sadan, and at several other places in Bengal Tagore’s birthday was celebrated with recitals of Rabindra Sangeet (songs written by Tagore) and his poems by prominent artistes and students. Many people visited Tagore’s ancestral home at Jorasanko where cultural programmes were also organised to mark the occasion.

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