3 days of Tagore bonanza to begin 150th yr celebrations

New Delhi, May 5 (PTI) India will kick off mega
celebrations to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the legend
of Rabindranath Tagore with a series of cultural events that
would see active participation of artists from Bangladesh and
release of stamps and coins in honour of the Nobel Laureate.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch the
year-long celebrations in the presence of National Advisory
Council (NAC) chairperson Sonia Gandhi at a function here on
Saturday where Bangladesh Planning Minister A K Khandker will
be the chief guest.
From May 7 to 9, Delhi will witness a flurry of
cultural events and exhibitions to honour the multifarious
talents of the 19th century genius.
India and Bangladesh had in 2010 decided to jointly
celebrate the 150th anniversary of Tagore, and Khandker will
lead a 20-member delegation, comprising lawmakers, senior
officials of Bangladesh government and experts and artists.
The inauguration in India will be held a day after the
celebrations are launched in Dhaka where Indian Vice-President
Hamid Ansari will represent India.
On May 7, the day when Gurudev was born in 1861, a
slew of commemorative items like postal stamps and coins and a
pack of six DVDs of films based on Tagore's stories will be
released in Delhi.
Prime Minister Singh himself headed the National
Committee for the 150th Anniversary Commemorations of Tagore
and the panel has already planned year-long celebrations.
Leading artistes Dwijen Mukherjee, Madhup Mudgal and
Rizwana Choudhury from Bangladesh will perform a Rabindra
Sangeet recital. Mudgal will render a Rabindra Sangeet number
in Hindi.
Also in Delhi for the celebrations are eminent
Bangladeshi poets Nirmalindu Guun, Mahadeb Saha and Rafiq
Azad, along with prominent singers Lily Islam and Shama Rahman
and famous dancer Tamanna Rahman.
The Prime Minister will also release Rabindra
'Chitravali' - a distinctive compilation of around 2000
paintings of Tagore.
Besides, Rabindra Bhavans, Ram Mohan Roy Library
Foundation, Sahitya Akademi and Indira Gandhi National Centre
for Arts will hold a series of events.
The National Gallery of Modern Art will exhibit an
exhibition 'Circle of Art: The Three Tagores' while a
'Bhartiya Kavita Utsav organised by the Sahitya Akademi on
Sunday will focus of Tagore's poetry and will see the
participation of about 30 eminent poets from various Indian
languages.
Tagore will also be the focus of a three-day
exhibition of books, music and portfolios organised by the
Sahitya Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi
in Vigyan Bhawan.