Shawdesh Desk:

The 81st 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.

Different organisations, namely Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Chhayanaut and others will observe the occasion organising special programmes in the capital.

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy will organise a programme at Shilper Aloy Shraddanjali: Rabindranath o Bangabandhu at National Music and Dance Centre Auditorium at 6:30pm while Chhayanaut will organise a programme at Chhayanaut Sanskriti Bhavan in Dhanmondi at 7:00pm.

Besides, different TV channels, namely BTV, Channel i, Banglavision and others will telecast special programmes.

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 states as their national anthems — Bangladesh’s Amar Shonar Bangla and India’s Jana Gana Mana.

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.

He modernised Bangla language and literature through his writings aiming to bring it closer to the spoken language. His poems, short stories and novels are acclaimed for their lyricism, naturalism, colloquialism and most important of all for their contemplative character.

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 a trend-setter playwright as his plays Raktakarabi, Dak Ghar and Achalayatan show.

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 Jalianwalla 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.