Rabindranath dominates the Bangla literary scene with copiousness of works: over 1,000 poems, nearly two dozen plays and play-lets, eight novels, eight or more volumes of short stories, more than 2,000 songs and a mass of prose works on literary, social, religious, political, and other topics.

Add to these his English translations, paintings, travels and lecture-tours in Asia, America, and Europe; and his activities as educationist, as social and religious reformer, and as politician.

After having won world-fame with the mystical-devotional poetry of the English Gitanjali, he dug over much along that particular seam -- a one-sided impression of his work. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1914.

Born to a wealthy land-owning family of Bengal, Rabindranath was initiated into art fairly late in his life and painted close to 2,500 paintings.

In 1930, through a series of exhibitions in Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow and New York, the world discovered the poet Rabindranath as an important modern painter.

Politically active in India, Rabindranath was a supporter of Gandhi, but warned of the dangers of nationalistic thought. Unable to gain ideological support to his views, he retired into relative solitude. Between 1916 and 1934, he travelled widely, attempting to spread the ideal of uniting the East and the West. Only hours before he died on August 7, 1941 (Sraban 22 in Bangla calendar), he dictated his last poem.