AGARTALA, May 9 (TIWN): Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA) department organized a three day long exhibitions and cultural programs to mark the 154th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan on Saturday. The exhibition and cultural program will continue till Monday. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar ianagurate the program by lighting the lamp

During the programme, a variety of cultural programs like procession, dances, recitals and elocution kept the audience enthralled. The day heralded a plethora of festivities for the fortnight in memory of the poet-philosopher.

School students also paid their respects to Tagore through readings of his famous works, renditions of Rabindra Sangeet, sit and draw and recitation competitions.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) Dr, Prafullajit Sinha and other dignitaries were present in the programme.

Born on this day, Vaisakha 25 according to the Bengali calendar (May 7, 1861 according to English calendar), Tagore in 1913 became the first Asian Nobel laureate and the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for literature. He also holds the distinction of having authored the national anthems of two sovereign nations- India and Bangladesh and the bard’s rich, diverse and vast literary ouvre is virtually unmatched in the world. He was also a painter and a composer par excellence.