Yesterday was 25th Baishakh.

Bangalees all over the world celebrated the 157th birth anniversary of Kobi Guru Rabindranath Tagore, the polymath who etched a place of honour and recognition on the literary stage of the world.

The government and various socio-cultural organisations observed his birth anniversary with elaborate programmes.

The main event was held at the Shilaidah Kuthibari, an ancestral mansion of the erstwhile Tagore Zamindari, at Shilaidah in Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia district in the afternoon.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith was present as the chief guest while Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu was a special guest at the event. It was chaired by Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor.

Besides, the local administration of Kushtia organised a programme at the Tagore Lodge, Kuthibari in the morning.

Many, including foreigners, thronged Kuthibari Bakultalal, pond and Amrakanan on the occasion.

In the capital, Dhaka University organised a programme marking the birth anniversary of the poet. Channel i organised a Rabindra Mela (Rabindra Fair) on its premises.

Born in 1861 in West Bengal's Kolkata, Tagore's work reshaped the Bangla literature and music in such a way that academic pursuits on these fields remain incomplete without studying his work.

For Bangladeshis and Indians, their first introduction to Tagore comes through the national anthems of the two countries.

“Amar Sonar Bangla”, the song written by Tagore in 1905, became the national anthem of Bangladesh after its independence in 1971. “Jana Gana Mana”, written by the bard in 1911, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly of India as the national anthem of India in 1950.

He was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature for “Gitanjali” in 1913.