Rabindranath Tagore's birth anniversary: 5 interesting facts about the Nobel prize winner

May 7 is observed as Rabindranath Tagore's birthday. Here are a few facts that were not known much.

Bangalore, First Published May 7, 2021, 11:45 AM IST | Last Updated May 7, 2021, 11:45 AM IST

Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 7, 1861, in Jorashako Thakurbari in Kolkata. As per the Bengali calendar, his birth anniversary falls on the 25th day of the month of Baisakh, 'Pachishe Baishakh'. This year we are celebrating his 160th birth anniversary. Tagore donned a cap with several feathers, including being a poet, philosopher, social thinker, revolutionist, music composer, philanthropist and many more.

First Non-European to receive Nobel prize
Tagore was the first Non-European poet who was bestowed with the Nobel prize in Literature in 1913 for his collection 'Gitanjali'.

Named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi as 'Mahatma'
Rabindranath had a beautiful bond with Gandhi. But, did you it was 'KabiGuru' who named the Father of Nation as 'Mahatma'?

Einstein and Tagore: A wonderful friendship
Tagore and Einstein shared a wonderful bond; they met four times in the year 1931. They shared their common interests in music and other things. Tagore once wrote about Einstein, "There was nothing stiff about him - there was no intellectual aloofness. He seemed to me a man who valued human relationship and he showed toward me a real interest and understanding."

Music icon
Tagore wrote over 2000 songs which are collectively known as 'Rabindra Sangeet'. Without his musical works, the world of music will be empty. Gurudev was highly inspired by English, Irish, Scottish folk tunes; he also listened to Hindustani classical music. He was a music lover.

Travel lover
He had a love for internationalism. He travelled to almost 30 countries on 5 continents within 5 decades. Every time he travelled, he got inspired by the culture and people, leading him to compose more songs and write more poems or novels.

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