Rabindranath Tagore

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Lore & Background

Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 to Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi, the youngest of thirteen surviving children. At the age of seventeen, he was sent to London for higher education, but he did not finish his studies there. He started a school at Santiniketan based on Upanishadic ideals of education. He also participated in the Indian independence movement. In 1913, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded for *Gitanjali*. In 1915, the British Crown granted Tagore a knighthood, which he renounced after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The documentary *Rabindranath Tagore* (1961), written and directed by Satyajit Ray, covers these events. Ray started working on it in early 1958. The film begins with Tagore's funeral procession, then covers his lineage starting with Dwarkanath Tagore, his father Debendranath Tagore's association with Raja Rammohun Roy, and Tagore's own birth, childhood nickname "Robi," initial schooling, trip to northern India with his father, publication of his first poem in his father's magazine, and failed attempt at higher education in London. The documentary also shows scenes from his first drama-opera, *Valmiki Pratibha*, where he used western classical music along with Raga-based songs and acted the lead role. It mentions his marriage to Mrinalini Devi, his aim to form a new school at Santiniketan, the deaths of his wife and children in a short span, and his association with the Indian independence movement. It then narrates his 1912 visit to England, where his translated poems from *Gitanjali* were introduced to painter William Rothenstein, who showed them to poet W. B. Yeats, leading to the book's publication and Tagore's Nobel Prize and knighthood. The documentary also covers his formation of Visva-Bharati University, his renouncement of the knighthood after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, his world journey to fund his school, his paintings, and his 70th birthday, when *The Golden Book of Tagore* was published with testimonials from Romain Rolland, Albert Einstein, Kostis Palamas, Jagadish Chandra Bose, and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The film ends with Tagore's last days, his final message "Civilization in Crisis," and his death on 7 August 1941.

Reader's Guide

Tagore's most famous work is *Gitanjali* (Song Offerings), a collection of 103 poems with his own English translations of his Bengali poems, which won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. He composed the first stanza of a five-stanza Brahmo hymn that was adopted as the National Anthem of India, "Jana Gana Mana." The first ten lines of his song "Amar Shonar Bangla" were adopted in 1972 as Bangladesh's national anthem. Sri Lanka's national anthem was written and composed by his student, Ananda Samarakoon. Tagore started a school at Santiniketan based on Upanishadic ideals of education and later formed Visva-Bharati University. He was granted a knighthood in 1915 but renounced it after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Satyajit Ray's 1961 documentary *Rabindranath Tagore* covers his life, though Ray avoided controversial aspects to make it an official portrait. Ray did not use any of Tagore's poetry in the film because he was unhappy with the English translations and believed they would not make the right impression. Ray said of the documentary, "Ten or twelve minutes of it are among the most moving and powerful things that I have produced." The Academy Film Archive restored the film, though its original print was badly damaged. The original script was included in the book *Original English Film Scripts Satyajit Ray*, put together by Ray's son Sandip Ray.

Did You Know?

• Tagore was the youngest of thirteen surviving children born to Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi.
• He was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded in 1913 for *Gitanjali*.
• The first stanza of Tagore's five-stanza Brahmo hymn became India's national anthem, 'Jana Gana Mana.'
• The first ten lines of his song 'Amar Shonar Bangla' were adopted as Bangladesh's national anthem in 1972.
• Satyajit Ray's documentary *Rabindranath Tagore* (1961) won the President's gold medal for Best Documentary Film at the 9th National Film Awards.