Each one of us has grown up reading as well as reciting the literature produced by one of India’s famous poets, writers and social reformers, Rabindranath Tagore. On the 162nd birth anniversary of this Nobel Laureate, here are some lesser facts on the life of this finest poet
Updated On: 2023-05-09 02:51 PM IST
Compiled by : Aakanksha Ahire
Fondly called Gurudev, Rabindranath Tagore was born in the Jorasanko mansion in Kolkata. After completing his schooling at home, at the age of seventeen, Tagore was sent to England for formal schooling. Photo Courtesy: iStock
In the year 1913, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He received the prestigious award for his collection of poems titled Gitanjali. Photo Courtesy: AFP
Besides India which made Tagore’s composition of Jana Gana Mana as its national anthem, Bangladesh too made Tagore’s Amar Shonar Bangla as their national anthem. Photo Courtesy: AFP
Tagore was also a novelist and authored several short stories and novels. His writing includes Gora (1910), Ghare-Baire (1916), and Yogayog (1929). He also wrote musical dramas, essays, travel diaries, and two autobiographies. Photo Courtesy: AFP
He also founded Visva Bharati University at Santiniketan in 1921 for scholars all over the world. Photo Courtesy: iStock
Tagore was awarded a knighthood in 1915, but he renounced it on May 31, 1919, to protest against the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre in Amritsar. Photo Courtesy: AFP
Besides literature, he was also fond of painting. He started painting in the last 17 years of his life. Photo Courtesy: AFP
Rabindranath Tagore and Albert Einstein shared a friendly bond due to their common interest in music and curiosity for general things. Photo Courtesy: AFP
Rabindranath Tagore wrote more than 2,000 songs. His songs are now known as ‘Rabindra Sangeet’. Photo Courtesy: AFP
