DHAKA: The 73rd death anniversary of Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore is being observed across the country on Wednesday – the 22nd of the Bengali month of Shraban, with a befitting manner.

The nation is observing the Tagore anniversary through elaborate programs. Different cultural organisations are set to hold lots of program to mark the day. The state-run Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar as well as all the private TV channels and radio stations are airing special program.

The day’s main event is set to take place at Bangla Academy in the evening where Planning Commission secretary Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam is likely to deliver a commemorative lecture on Tagore. Chhayanaut will observe the anniversary on Friday.

Rabindranath, the first non-European poet to win Nobel Prize for literature, died at the age of 80 on August 7, 1941, according to the Gregorian calendar. 

He won the Nobel Prize in 1913 for his works titled ‘Song Offerings, the English translation of Gitanjali, an anthology of his poems.

Rabindranath left profound marks on all branches of Bengali literature except an epic reshaping Bengali language and literature in the 19th and 20th centuries 

He composed 2,230 songs wrote eight novels, 84 short stories and countless poems all sources of  inspiration for the Bangali nation. He modernized Bangla language and literature which no one has ever done in one life.

His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and Bangladesh's ‘Amar Shonar Bangla.’

In 1915, Rabindranath was conferred knighthood which he renounced in protest against the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre. He founded Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan in 1921.

BDST: 0948 HRS, AGU 06, 2014