Kolkata, Jan 16 (Inditop.com) A national committee of distinguished experts will be set up to oversee the 150th birth anniversary celebrations in 2011 of Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, an event which will be celebrated jointly with Bangladesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Saturday.
The government will also take steps to revive the Viswa Bharati University, set up by Tagore, and Santiniketan and preserve its cultural aspect1, the prime minister said after tele-inaugurating the new campus of the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies and laying the foundation of the Science Exploration Hall of Science City.
“In May, 2011, the world will celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. A national committee of distinguished experts will advise on the events to commemorate the life and works, as well as the values and ideals, of Tagore,” the prime minister said.
Referring to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent visit to Delhi, Manmohan Singh said the two of them had agreed to oversee the joint celebrations of the event in a befitting manner.
“We will work to see how to rekindle international interest in the world of one of the greatest poets of the world,” the prime minister said.
Describing Viswa Bharati as a national treasure, the prime minister said an “organic revival” of Viswa Bharati will be a “most fitting commemoration” of Tagore. The central government has already sanctioned Rs.95 crore for upgrading the university.
The prime minister laid more stress on preserving the “intangible cultural heritage” bequeathed by Tagore of learning through free thought and self-expression in communion with nature. “How we could do so keeping in mind contemporary needs is something that needs deep reflection and creative thinking.”
Tagore, born on May 7, 1861, got the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 – the first Asian to get the coveted award.
Tagore, who enriched Bengali culture and literature as a poet, novelist, musician, and playwright from the second half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, is a household name in this part of the world with the popularity of his works still undiminished.
Santiniketan (an abode of peace), about 80 km north of Kolkata, was set up on a land owned by the Tagore family in Bolpur town of Birbhum district in West Bengal. Tagore started Patha Bhavana – the school of his ideals – there, and it was expanded into the Viswa Bharati University in 1921 after he received the Nobel prize. In 1951, it became a central university.
