The Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul in partnership with the Embassy of India in Seoul, Indian Art Museum, Tagore Society of Korea and the Bengali Association of Korea and expatriate Bangladeshis celebrated the "Rabindra-Nazrul Jayanti" Saturday.

Also, the centenary of the publication of Kazi Nazrul Islam's poem "Bidrohi" (The Rebel) was observed, and a cultural presentation on the music and poems written by Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam was released.

The Bangladesh Embassy, for the first time, celebrated the Rabindra-Nazrul Jayanti and centenary of the publication of Nazrul's poem Bidrohi in partnership with the Indian Embassy in Seoul, Indian Art Museum, Tagore Society of Korea, expatriate Bangladeshis and the Bengali Association of Korea.

The event was divided into two segments. The first part, conducted by Ambassador Abida Islam, consisted of congratulatory speeches by Sripriya Ranganathan, Indian Ambassador to South Korea, Padma Shri Dr Kim Yang-shik, director of Indian Art Museum in Seoul and a discussion on Nazrul's poem Bidrohi by Kalyani Kazi, the daughter-in-law of the poet.

It also included the recitation of the poems including recitations of the poem Bidrohi coupled with performance. In addition, members of the Tagore Society of Korea recited Tagore's poems in Korean from Gitanjali.

The second segment of the event consisted of the dance and song recitals from the songs on the six seasons of the Bengali calendar written by both Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Ambassador Abida Islam touched upon the invaluable contributions of both Rabindra and Nazrul to the development of Bangla language and literature, Bengali culture and to the context of the then socio-political scenario of Bengal.

She mentioned that Rabindranath is a familiar literary figure to the Korean people for his poem "The Lamp of the East" whereas Nazrul is comparatively less known, and the celebration of the Rabindra-Nazrul Jayanti and centenary of the publication of the poem Bidrohi is an initiative to promote the two literary icons of Bengali literature – Rabindra and Nazrul – as well as their literary works and ideas to the Korean people.

Sripriya Ranganathan mentioned that Tagore Jayanti has been celebrated jointly by the Indian Embassy in Seoul and Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul for the past few years.

Dr Kim Yang-shik mentioned the great contribution of Rabindra and Nazrul to Bengali literature.

To promote the literary works and ideas of these two literary figures she particularly underscored the need for cultural exchanges.

Kalyani Kazi, the daughter-in-law of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, in her discussion on the poem Bidrohi touched upon the background of the composition of the poem as well as the influence of the poem against the backdrop of the socio-political context of that time.

The second segment of the event consisted of Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul Sangeet, dance recital and instrumental music centred on the six seasons of the Bengali calendar.

Members of the Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul, Tagore Society of Korea and Bengali Association of Korea participated in this cultural event.