Bangladesh Rabindrasangeet Shilpi Sangstha artistes sing songs in a programme at the Public Library in the capital on Tuesday, marking the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. — New Age photo

The 151st anniversary of the birth of poet Rabindranath Tagore, who reshaped the Bangla literature in the late 19th and the early 20th century, was celebrated on Tuesday.
Tagore, who was Asia’s first Nobel laureate, was a poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer, educationist, social reformer, nationalist, business manager, artist and composer. Tagore wrote the national anthems of Bangladesh and India.
Tagore was born on May 8, 1861, in a zamindar family in Kolkata.
The government, educational institutions, socio-cultural organisations and radio and television channels had held various programmes marking  the day.
The president, Zillur Rahman, the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and the leader of the opposition in the parliament, Khaleda Zia, issued separate messages on the occasion.
The cultural ministry organised the national programme on the occasion in Dhaka, Shahjadpur, Patisar and Dakshindihi.
The Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the Bangla Academy and the Nazrul Academy arranged programme on their premises.
Bangladesh Rabindra Sangeet Shilpi Sangstha is holding the 23rd National Rabindra Sangeet Festival at the Shawkat Osman Auditorium at the Central Public Library marking the occasion.
Chhayanaut Sangskritik Kendra opened a two-day Rabindra Utsab at Chhayanaut Bhaban. Private television Channel I also organised a Rabindra Utsab at its office. 
Tagore’s major plays are Raja, Dakghar, Achalayatan, Muktadhara and Raktakarabi.
He wrote several volumes of short stories and a number of novels, including Gora, Ghare-Baire and Yogayog.
Tagore also left numerous drawings and paintings, and about 2,000 songs which he also composed.
The British Crown granted Tagore a knighthood in 1915. He renounced it after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The Bengali-speaking people also celebrate 100 years of the publication of the English translation of Tagore’s famous Gitanjali (Song offerings), a collection of poems, with a preface by Irish poet and playwright WB Yeats. It earned Tagore the Nobel prize in literature in 1913, the first non-European to win the prize.
Tagore died on August 7, 1941.