Rabindranath Tagore: A Unique Confluence of Art, Literature and Music

Rabindranath Tagore : A Unique Confluence of Art, Literature and Music

Rabindranath Tagore or Rabindranath Tagore was a world famous litterateur, philosopher, poet, musician, playwright and painter. Rabindranath ji was the only poet who wrote the national anthem of two countries (India and Bangladesh) and emerged as a visionary who promoted Indian culture. He is also addressed by the name of Gurudev.

Rabindranath ji established a school in 1901 at Shantiniketan, a small town in Birbhum district of West Bengal.

He composed many travelogues, short stories, novels, articles and more than a thousand songs. Rabindranath Tagore ji has also played an important role in many national and cultural movements of India.

Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his collection of poems, Gitanjali.

Biography

Birth

Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 in Jorasanko Thakur Bari, Kolkata. His mother’s name was Sharda Devi and father’s name was Devendranath Tagore. Rabindranath Tagore was the 13th child of his parents. His father Devendranath Tagore was one of the founders of Brahmo Samaj.

Education

Rabindranath Tagore received his early education from the prestigious St. Xavier’s School. Desiring to become a barrister, he attended the Public School in Bridgestone, England, in 1878, then studied law at the University of London, but returned home in 1880 without obtaining a degree.

People began to realize his wonderful talent in poetry, verses and language from the childhood of Rabindranath Tagore. His first short story was published in 1877, when he was only 16 years old. He wrote his first poem at the age of 8.

Rabindranath Tagore’s mother died in his childhood and his father traveled widely, so he was raised mostly by servants. The Tagore family was at the forefront of the Bengal Renaissance, during which they published literary magazines. Rabindranath Tagore married Mrinalini Devi in 1883.

Then Rabindranath Tagore largely avoided schooling and was educated and physically trained by his brother Hemendranath. Rabindranath Tagore’s great interest was in literature, physiology, drawing, geography, Sanskrit, English, history and mathematics. He was against formal education. He said that proper teaching does not explain things.

He studied astronomy, modern science, history and Sanskrit. He also studied Kalidas and his works.

In 1873, he went to Amritsar for a month’s stay. In Amritsar, he was greatly influenced by Guruvani and Nanak Vani, which were sung in the morning at the Golden Temple. Rabindranath ji used to listen to his speech every day with his father. All these have been mentioned by Tagore in his book “Meri Yaadein”, this book was published in the year 1912.

In 2011, Harvard University Press collaborated with Visva-Bharati University to publish “The Essential Tagore”, the largest compilation of Tagore’s works. It was edited by Fakral Alam and Radha Chakraborty and marked the birth of Tagore.

Death

Rabindranath Tagore was suffering from a dreadful disease like cancer for a long time, due to which he died on 7 August 1941.

Nobel Prize was stolen

Rabindranath became the first non-European person to win the Nobel Prize. He had kept this award under the protection of Visva-Bharati University. In 2004, this Nobel Prize was stolen from there.

Returned the Title of Knighthood

On June 3, 1915, Nobel laureate, Bengali writer and poet Rabindranath Tagore was awarded knighthood by the British government but, in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13 April 1919, he returned the knighthood to the British government.