In 6 Points: Who Was Rabindranath Tagore?

Rabindranath Tagore, who composed India’s National Anthem and won the Nobel Prize for Literature, was a multitalented personality as he was a Bengali poet, Brahmo Samaj philosopher, visual artist, playwright, novelist, painter and a composer.

IMAGE: Twitter/ @sanghaviharsh

NEW DELHI: As the nation observes the 77th death anniversary of legendary poet Rabindranath, this all-rounder counties to be remembered as an exemplary storyteller who wrote mesmerizing tales of love, betrayal and passion. Here is a list of things to know about Tagore:

1. Born in 1861, Rabindranath Tagore was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj.
2. He was educated at home and at seventeen he was sent to England for formal schooling.
3. Tagore had early success as a writer in his native Bengal. With his translations of some of his poems, he then rapidly became a known face in the West.
4. He started an experimental school at Shantiniketan where he tried his Upanishadic ideals of education.
5. Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915, but within a few years, he resigned the honour as a protest against British policies in India.
6. In 1913 he became the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

'Gitanjali,' 'Gora,' and 'Ghare-Baire,' 'Chokher Bali,' are among his best-known works. He helped in shaping the Bangla literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Two of his songs are now the national anthems of Bangladesh and India -“Amar Sonar Bangla” and “Jana Gana Mana.” Rabindranath Tagore died on 7 August 1941  in the same Jorasanko mansion in which he was brought up.