Highlights of Commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore
Fifty years after the centenary celebration it is time for both short-term and long-term measures for reassessing the relevance of Tagore in different areas of thoughts, document such assessment and initiate efforts to put his ideas in the new media that have evolved during last two-three decades as well as to reiterate his international relevance to suit the need of the hour.
The Ministry of Culture, as the nodal Government of India agency, has initiated steps to pay homage to the nation’s most revered global cultural icon. This would include projects to be undertaken by the Ministry directly or by the autonomous organizations under its wings; through various union ministries and state governments, universities and institutions within the country as well as programmes outside India by the Ministry, Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and UNESCO.
National committee under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Prime Minister has been setup to guide the commemoration during 2010-2012. It has held its first meeting on 20th May, 2010.
National Implementation committee to go into the details of the programmes and events of the commemoration has also been constituted under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Finance Minister. It has met on 4th May 2010 and 14th July 2010. Various programmes and proposals have been considered by it and are under implementation.
Broadly, the commemoration programmes are aimed at bringing out cultural icon closer to today’s generation by:
• Creating new Tagore Centres and refurbishing the existing ones across India as focal points of national cultural activity;
• institution of Tagore Awards;
• publication in areas closely related to Tagore’s works and contributions;
• celebration of and refreshing memory about his long-lasting contribution to Indian thought;
• programmes on:
• Tagore’s painting and exhibitions;
• Documentaries and
• New media interventions
“Sangeet Natak Akademi will be organising a three day event of Santhal Dance and Music Festival in the Daronda Village, Birbhoom District, West Bengal from January 4-6, 2011. About 32 groups, including 6 from other neighboring districts, will participate in the Festival programme from 3.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. daily. The event would be will be organised with the support of the District administration. The Santhal Festival will be followed by a festival of Tagore’s dance drama produced by Akademi’s institutions namely, Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal, Kathak Kendra, Delhi and Sattriya Kendra, Guwahati. This festival will be held in Kolkata in collaboration with Rabindra Bharati University and in Shantiniketan in collaboration with Vishva Bharati University. The dates for Shantiniketan are 23-26 January 2011.”