RABINDRANATH TAGORE: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a renowned poet and philosopher who belonged to the Brahmo Samaj social and religious movement. He also excelled in the areas of drama, music, and storytelling. In 1913 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, being the first non-European person to receive this award.

Tagore was of Bengali nationality, so his artistic work allowed the introduction of his culture in the western world. This poet extended the art of his people through different literary works that spanned different genres, thus demonstrating its multifaceted character.

For example, Rabindranath devoted himself to developing the epistolary genre, as well as the essay genre, without neglecting other artistic areas such as poetry, painting, and short stories.

One of his main characteristics as an artist was his interest in breaking the rigorous canons of Bengali art, given that he was a reformer who advocated the modernization of its culture. Similarly, he focused on detaching himself from the classicist forms that were usually attributed to his work.

Despite his extensive contact with the Western world, Rabindranath wanted to protect the cultural and religious legacy of India, so he did not agree with the Europeanization of the continent.

Rabindranath Tagore is known for having revolutionized the literature of his country with works such as Gitanjali, which consists of a collection of poems that covers universal themes such as love, life, death and religious piety. This masterpiece was published in 1910 and is the text with which Tagore won the Nobel Prize.

In addition, two of his musical compositions became national anthems of India and Bangladesh; These songs are known as Jana-Gana-Mana and Amar Shonar Bangla. The second song was written by the author for the Swadeshi protests, which were developed in order to obtain the economic independence of India from the British Empire.

Biography

Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal, one of the twenty-nine states that make up the Republic of India. His date of birth was May 7, 1861.

He was the son of Sarada Ravat and Debendranath Tagore, who was an Indian philosopher and religious reformist known for having been one of the founders of the Brahmo Samaj religion, a religion that Rabindranath embraced.

In addition, Tagore was the youngest in a family of 14 children. His growth and development was influenced by a remarkable artistic environment, since he regularly attended the theater and different musical performances.

This bohemian atmosphere within Rabindranath's childhood as well as his religious culture were essential elements for his artistic future. It is even known that the Tagore family belonged to a notable and recognized social group where art lovers stood out.

In addition, some of his brothers also stood out in the artistic world, as well as some of his sisters-in-law. For example, Jyotirindranath Tagore was a renowned musician and composer, while Swarna Kumari Devi, her sister, had some fame as a novelist.

Applied studies

In 1878 Tagore decided to travel to England, specifically to the city of Brighton, in order to develop his studies in a public school. After this the poet managed to study at the University of London; however, he was unable to complete his studies. As a consequence, he decided to return to India.

Despite this, Tagore notably absorbed some notions of English culture and its language, which later influenced him considerably in the creation of his musical compositions. However, the artist was never able to fully familiarize himself with English customs and with the rigorous interpretation of the Hindu religion.

Family and early writings

In 1883 Tagore married Mrinalini Devi, with whom he had six children; some of them died during their first years of life. At that time, Tagare had already made his way into the literary world thanks to several works, including one of his most famous poems entitled Vidyapati.

In 1890 he moved to Shelaidaha as he had to tend the family properties. During this period he made some poems such as Katha or Kahini, Chitra and Sonar Tari, which enriched his literary career. In addition, at that time Tagore was also exploring the essay genre and short stories.

Later, in 1901, Rabindranath Tagore moved to the small town of Santiniketan, where he decided to open an experimental school since he had properties in that area.

This small campus turned out to be a successful educational center, which attracted a sizeable group of artists, musicians, students, and linguists. Today, this school remains under the name Visva Bharati University and continues to be a prestigious center and meeting place for the intelligentsia.

At that time his wife had died along with one of his sons and one of his daughters, which left the artist in deep desolation. Despite this dark time for Tagore, the poet was able to realize two of his best-known works: Naivedya and Kheya.

Travel abroad

Tagore made many trips abroad, which allowed him to nurture his artistic and literary experience. During one of his wanderings, he came into contact with the renowned Anglo-Irish poet WB Yeats, who was genuinely moved by Tagore's poems. In fact, Yeats was the one who made the prologue to his work Gitanjali.

After meeting Yeats, Rabindranath Tagore undertook a trip to Japan and the United States, accompanied by Charles F. Andrews; This was for the purpose of holding a considerable number of lectures.

During this expedition, the poet realized the nationalist chauvinism of these countries, so he decided to attack and denounce this characteristic.

In 1924 he decided to travel to Peru. He could not reach this country, so he ended up staying in Argentina, where the renowned writer Victoria Ocampo offered him help and accommodation. A year later the poet toured a large number of European countries such as Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Austria, Greece and Bulgaria.

Eventually it passed through Egypt, Russia, and Canada, before returning to England. His travels did not stop there, since in 1927 he visited some countries belonging to Southeast Asia, such as Singapore, Bali, Java, Siam and Malacca.

As expected, Tagore wrote a variety of travel chronicles, which can be found compiled in his text Jatri.

Death

Rabindranath Tagore died on August 7, 1941 in Calcutta, the city where he was born. At the time of his departure, Tagore was 80 years old.

According to the testimony of those who knew him, it can be said that his life was full of enriching and dynamic experiences since, although he also had to go through hardships, the author was able to travel the world and rub shoulders with the best intellectuals and artists of his time.

Brahmo Samaj: the religion of Rabindranath Tagore

This religion is based on the idea of ​​worshiping Brahman, who is considered as the supreme spirit of the cosmos. In turn, the word Samaj means "community of united people."

This social and religious movement was founded in the 19th century, which means that it is a fairly young religion. His doctrine advocates a monotheistic devotion, in which it is professed that God is a creator and giver of life, infinite in wisdom, energy, holiness and love. These characteristics are elementary to understand Rabindranath's poetic work.

Ideals about education

Rabindranath Tagore was a deeply religious and humanistic man, so he decided to serve society in many ways; These were through his multifaceted artistic endeavors and through education.

In the same way, it is known that Tagore attributed a lot of value to the different stages that make up childhood; therefore, the author argued that it was necessary to provide a developmentally appropriate place for the child. His educational philosophy was so profound that it managed to transcend India itself.

As previously stated, in 1901 Tagore founded a school. This educational center was called by the poet Shantiniketan, which means "abode of peace." Rabindranath not only founded this establishment, but also created a rural institute for artisans and artists in 1922, which was called Shriniketan.

For this reason, Bolpur (the small place where he founded both institutions) is still today an area that encourages the meeting of notable intellectuals and artists from all parts of the world.

In turn, these educational centers aimed to modernize and renew the educational environment in India, especially in the city of Calcutta.

Dialogue between Asia and the West

Tagore made special emphasis on this capital because it was in that city where the first changes began to manifest themselves around the increase in the imposition of the English in the administrative environment. In this way, the poet promoted the protection of culture and his own heritage despite the strong British influence.

Although Rabindranath advocated protecting the culture of India, the author tried to establish a dialogue between the West and Asia, with the aim of finding points of convergence between both societies and nurturing the educational system. To achieve this, subjects were taught that taught both elements of one culture and the other.

Tagore himself admitted that he needed Western genius to be able to give his educational ideal the force of reality and, through this means, achieve a practical and determined end. In other words, the poet wanted to use the practicality of the West to complement his educational system.

In this type of statement (which can be found in texts such as The Poet's School), the humanistic and universal character of the author can be clearly perceived, for whom it was extremely necessary to fulfill the right to a happy childhood full of love.. Similarly, Tagore advocated giving a position of importance to women.

Plays

As mentioned in previous paragraphs, this poet is known to have been a very prolific and varied author, standing out considerably in several of the artistic disciplines. Some of his most outstanding works were the following:

My Memories (1917)

This work was very important for historians, since this kind of autobiography was very useful to know intimate aspects of the life of Tagore.

The Gardener (1913)

This collection of poems was called by art critics as a magical book, since its poems are a call to love and nature, maintaining a strong link with spirituality and religious piety.

This text predates his famous Gitanjali and there you can see the beginning of the author's aesthetics, which is mainly composed of the description of beauty, nature, life, love and the soul.

The lyrical offering (1910)

This book is made up of a collection of poems, among which are some of the most admired and well-known written by Tagore.

According to literary critics, this work is the most homogeneous due to the way in which the author approached the theme and stylistic elements.

Letters to a Traveler (1881)

Taking into account his biography, it can be established that Letters from a traveler reflects the author's experiences when he decided to travel to Great Britain for his studies.

This text was published in a literary newspaper known as Bharati, which had been founded by his brothers in 1876.

The Genius of Valmiki (1881)

This musical work consists of a Bengali opera, which is based on an ancient legend known as Ratnakara the Bully.

A curious fact about this composition is that, at the time of its premiere, it was Tagore himself who played the role of the genius Valmiki during the performance.

References

1. Tagore, R. (Sf) «Gitanjalí, poems in prose«. Retrieved on November 20, 2018 from the University of Valencia: uv.es
2. Tagore, R. (sf) «The gardener». Retrieved on November 20, 2018 from the University of Valencia: uv.es
3. Narmadeshwar, J. (1994) "Rabindranath Tagore". Retrieved on November 19, 2018 from UNESCO: ibe.unesco.org
4. Argüello, S. (2004) "Rabindranath Tagore and his ideals on education". Retrieved on November 19, 2018 from Education Magazine: redalyc.org
5. Lecturalia, (nd) «Rabindranath Tagore». Retrieved on November 19, 2018 from Lecturalia authors: lecturalia.com