Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary celebrations

A bust of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore was unveiled recently by Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs in the presence of Ashok K. Kantha, High Commissioner of India and Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegame, Vice Chancellor, University of Colombo at the Main Library of the University of Colombo.

The bronze bust was gifted by Ministry of Culture, Government of India on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. The greenish bronze bust is sculpted by Janak Jhankar Narzary, a renowned sculptor and Professor of Art History in Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati.

Prof. Peiris emphasised the multi-faceted personality of Gurudev Tagore and underlined the principle of Universality espoused by Tagore and called the values preached by Tagore as a uniting force between different civilisations. He also recalled Tagore's fascination with the universal appeal of Buddhism and dwelt upon the unique experiments in education carried out by Tagore by way of setting up of Shantiniketan and Visva- Bharati. Prof. Peiris recalled his family's association with Gurudev Tagore and remembered laying down of the foundation of Sri Palee established by Late Wilmot Perera. Prof. Peiris also emphasised that the destinies of India and Sri Lanka were bound inextricably together.

High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha recalled the year-long series of activities organized by the High Commission in partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka, University of Colombo and other institutions to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Tagore in Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner underlined that there was a groundswell of genuine interest in Tagore, his life, his works, his legacy in Sri Lanka.

He said, Gurudev Tagore was not being put on a pedestal to be remembered once a year on his birth anniversary, but to draw upon Tagore's life, works and legacy to nurture strong bonds of friendship between the two countries and strengthen that ancient association of mind between India and Sri Lanka as referred by Tagore himself during his visit in 1934, which have been reinforced during these year-long celebrations.

Vice-Chancellor thanked the High Commission for gifting the bust of Tagore to University of Colombo and outlined the excellent cooperation between the University of Colombo and the High Commission of India which also resulted in the setting up of a Centre for Contemporary Indian Studies (CCIS) at the University of Colombo.

The unveiling of the bust was the culmination of a year and half long celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in Sri Lanka which included, inter alia, a series of events such as the release on May 7, 2011 of a special Postal stamp by the Ministry of postal Services, and the release of a commemorative volume "Remembering Rabindranath Tagore" with a message from President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Some of the other key events organised to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore in Sri Lanka included a Tagore Film Festival focusing on the works of Gurudev Tagore organised from September 1- 5, 2011; re-staging of Shaap Mochan, a dance drama in which Tagore had personally acted in Colombo and Jaffna in May 1934 which was widely appreciated, including by SWRD Bandaranaike, former Prime Minister, in Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy and Hambantota from November 22-28, 2011 by an ICCR sponsored troupe of Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee Bimbavati Devi in form of a fusion of Manipuri and kathak dance performance Prabhu Amar Priyo Amar; an Exhibition of Digital re-prints of Paintings by Tagore; and a photo exhibition on Tagore's Pilgrimages to the East organised in the first week of December 2011 and 'An evening of Tagore Songs' by the famous Rabindra Sangeet singer from Bangladesh Rizwana Choudhary on March 28, 2011 in association with the High Commission of Bangladesh. A one- day seminar focusing on the travels of Tagore to Sri Lanka was organised in association with the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies and the Centre for Contemporary Indian Studies, University of Colombo on June 12.

Tagore's three visits to Sri Lanka in 1922, 1928 and 1934 and two transit halts had clearly left an abiding imprint and his extensive interactions with artists and literary personalities of Sri Lanka significantly contributed to the cultural resurgence, inspiring artistes, dancers and singers to develop their genres to classical forms.