Why in news? Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts(IGNCA) in collaboration with Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University and Sanrachna Foundation held Rabindra Jayanti Celebrations on 12th May in New Delhi.
Highlights:
• ‘Vigyan Vaibhav’ portal developed by IGNCA was launched.
• Vigyan Vaibhav is dedicated to seventy-five Indian scientists. Vigyan Vaibhav’ is a tribute to men and women who have contributed in equal numbers in the field of science.
About Rabindra Jayanti
• According to the Gregorian calendar, Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 7, 1861. However, his Jayanti does not always fall on the same day. This is due to the fact that his Jayanti falls on the 25th day of the Bengali month of ‘Boishakh’. And this day is rarely the same as the date in the Gregorian calendar. Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti was celebrated on May 9, 2023. This date changes every year.
About Rabindranath Tagore:
• Rabindranath Tagore, who was born on May 7, 1861, is a well-known writer known for his diverse literary talent, which included poetry, songs, short stories, and plays
• He was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his poetry collection, ‘Gitanjali,’ which was written in Bengali and then translated into English.
• He is fondly and respectfully referred to as Gurudev, Kabiguru and Biswakabi.
• He composed national anthems for two countries, India and Bangladesh, and this inspired a Ceylonese student of his to write and compose Sri Lanka’s national anthem.
• Tagore was awarded ‘Knighthood’ in 1915 by King George V of the United Kingdom. However, he renounced his Knighthood in 1919, following the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre.
• Although he was a learned personality with many of his literary accomplishments, he was also a philosopher and educationist who founded the Vishwa-Bharati University in 1921, a university that questioned the conventional education.
• He was a good friend of Mahatma Gandhi and is said to have given him the title of Mahatma.