Today is the 163rd birth anniversary of poet, philosopher, musician and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore was born on 8 May 1861 in the Jorasanko Thakurbari in Kolkata to Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. His birth anniversary falls on the 25th day of the Bengali month of Boishakh and is popularly called ‘Pachishe Boishakh’.

Different socio-cultural organisations across the country have chalked out elaborate programmes to mark the day.  
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) has planed a 3-day programme titled “Sonar Banglar Shopno O Bastobota: Rabindranath Theke Bangabandhu” (Dreams and Realities of Sonar Bengal: Rabindranath to Bangabandhu).  

The inagural ceremony of the event will be held at the academy’s National Theatre Hall at 11:00am. Parliament Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will grace the occasion as the chief guest with State Minister  for Cultural Affairs Naheed Ezaher Khan in the chair.

A discussion and cultural programme will be held on the first day of 3-day event.

Chhayanaut, the leading cultural organisation of the country, will celebrate Tagore’s birth anniversary with two-day cultural programme titled “Rabindra Utsab”.  

Besides, television channels will air an array of special programmes to celebrate the day.

Bangladesh Television (BTV) will telecast a special drama titled “Sesher Ratri” at 9:00pm today. Based on Tagore’s short story of the same name, the drama is scripted by Khairul Alam Sabuj.  Jitu Ahsan, Wahida Mollick Jolly, Habib Masud, Borhan Babu and Khairul Alam Sabuj have acted different roles in the play. A special discussion will also be aired on the channel.  

Maasranga Television will air the drama “Somapti” at 10:30pm. Directed by Srabani Ferdous, the drama star Sabila Nur and Sajal Noor in the lead characters.

A special dance show “Mamo Chitte Niti Nritte” will be broadcast on Duronto TV at 9:30am. Directed by Partha Pratim Halder, the show features artites of dance organisation “Sadhana”. Short films “Madho” and “Dakghor” will be telecast at 10:00pm and 10:30pm respectively.

A special drama ‘Toposhini’ will be aired on RTV at 2:10pm today. Based on the story of  Rabindranath Tagore, Shumon Anwar has scripted and directed the drama. The play stars Afran Nisho, Zakia Bari Mamo, Dilara Zaman, Hannan  Shely and others.   

Ntv will air a special ballad “Ektutku Chhoya Lage”. Produced by Jahangir Chowdhury, the show features Shahiduzzaman Selim, Shampa Reza, Asif, Amrita Khan and others.

Rabindranath Tagore was a poet, artist, playwright, novelist, as well as a composer, whose works reshaped Bangla literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His novels, short stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal.

Tagore is often referred to as “The Bard of Bengal”. Tagore’s contribution to Indian literature is considered unparalleled. His legacy also endures in the institution Visva-Bharati University he founded.

Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classical Sanskrit.

He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of the modern Indian subcontinent, being highly commemorated in India and Bangladesh, as well as in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan.
The legendary poet of Bangla literature breathed his last in Kolkata on 7 August 1941, which falls on 22 Sraban  of Bangla calendar.