Rabindranath Tagore was a literary legend whose works linked the East and the West. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for ‘Gitanjali’, a collection of poems that shows Tagore’s insights into the relationship between nature and God. He was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize.
He was born on May 7th, 1861, in Calcutta in a famous family. His father, Devendranath Tagore was a noted social reformer. In ‘Manasi’ Tagore introduced new verse forms to Bengali literature. ‘Sonar Tari’ is another well known poetry collection.
Tagore also wrote over 2000 songs. His songs and poems are popular throughout Bengal. In 1915, Tagore was offered a knighthood, but the patriot refused the honour in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Tagore wrote Jana Gana Mana, the National Anthem of India as well as Amar Shonar Bangla, the Bangladeshi national anthem. The Sri Lankan national anthem was also inspired by Tagore’s work. Tagore is also known as the Bard of Bengal.