Rabindranath Tagore

Why in News:

The Prime Minister paid tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on 160^th Jayanti on 7th May, 2021.

Key facts:

Birth:He was born in Calcutta on 7th May 1861.

About:

• He was also referred to as ‘Gurudev’, ‘Kabiguru’, and ‘Biswakabi’
• Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, novelist, and painter, who was highly influential in introducing Indian culture to the west.
• He was an exceptional literary figure and a renowned polymath who singlehandedly reshaped the region’s literature and music.
• He was a good friend of Mahatma Gandhi and is said to have given him the title of Mahatma.
• He had spoken at the World Parliament for Religions in the years 1929 and 1937.

Contributions:

• He is said to have composed over 2000 songs and his songs and music are called ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ with its own distinct lyrical and fluid style.
• He is responsible for modernising Bengali prose and poetry. His notable works include Gitanjali, Ghare-Baire, Gora, Manasi, Balaka, Sonar Tori, He is also remembered for his song ‘EklaChalo Re’.
• He published his first poems aged 16 under the pen-name ‘Bhanusimha’.
• He not only gave the national anthems for two countries, India and Bangladesh, but also inspired a Ceylonese student of his, to pen and compose the national anthem of Sri Lanka.
• Besides all his literary achievements he was also a philosopher and educationist who in 1921 established the Vishwa-Bharati University, a university that challenged conventional education.

Awards:

• In 1913 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work on Gitanjali.
• He was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize.
• In 1915 he was awarded knighthood by the British King George V. In 1919, following the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre he renounced his Knighthood.

Death:

• He died on 7th August 1941 in Calcutta.