Call For Papers Gitanjali and Beyond Issue 13 Tagore and a Pluralist Epistemology of Religiosity (To be published in September 2026) Concept note: It has been observed time and again by the scholars of Religious Studies that “religion” is a concept that cannot be easily defined, and it is all the more difficult to find a cross-culturally valid definition of the term (Oppy 2022, 21-33; Olson 2011, 1). However, when we, rather than trying to define “religion” per se, seek to weave a garland of religious experiences from different cultures and continents, we find that there are certain discourses, narratives and philosophies of religious experience that can be shared between individuals and communities from different locations. That is what makes the diverse epistemologies of religiosity cross-culturally communicable. Such epistemologies can be respectfully appreciated only from a perspective of religious and cultural pluralism, when the human mind is open to […]
Call For Papers
Call for Papers Gitanjali and Beyond Issue 15 From Home to Horizon: Travel and Transformation in Rabindranath Tagore’s Writing Concept Note ‘Travel’ in Rabindranath Tagore’s writings unfolds in multiple, interwoven dimensions – literal journeys across regions and continents, inward and spiritual movements, cultural and intellectual crossings, and imaginative travels across time, memory and artistic form. This call for papers invites contributions that examine travel not merely as physical displacement but as an aesthetic, ethical and political metaphor in Tagore’s extensive oeuvre. Tagore was among the most widely travelled literary figures of the early twentieth century. His repeated journeys within India and abroad – to Britain, Europe, the Americas, the Soviet Union, Japan, China and Southeast Asia, deeply shaped his ideas on nationalism, education, cosmopolitanism and cultural exchange. These itineraries find vivid expression in his poems, songs, letters, essays, travelogues and fiction. Whether writing from the estates of rural Bengal […]
Call for Papers (CFP) An International Conference on Tradition, Modernity, and Internationalism: Rabindranath Tagore and the Making of a New Cultural Paradigm 7, 8, and 9 May 2027 Venue: Edinburgh Organized by: The Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs), Edinburgh. Concept Note Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) remains one of the most influential thinkers of modern India and the global South, whose thoughts continue to illuminate the intersections of tradition, modernity, and internationalism. As a poet, philosopher, educator, and cultural reformer, Tagore envisioned a humanist modernity that would resist both colonial domination and cultural insularity. His ideas of freedom, creativity, and spiritual unity sought to reimagine the very concept of civilization, integral to notions of human learning and identity. The continuing relevance of Tagore studies lies in their capacity to illuminate enduring questions of identity, freedom and global humanism within an increasingly fractured world. Rabindranath Tagore’s interdisciplinary legacy as a poet, philosopher, […]
Rabindranath Tagore remains an enduring presence in the intellectual and artistic landscape of South Asia and beyond. His multifaceted legacy, spanning poetry, music, drama, fiction, creative nonfiction, painting, education, and political thought, offers not just a body of work, but a way of thinking and being. This special issue on his 165th birth anniversary invites contributors to engage personally and creatively with the question: What does Tagore mean to you as a creative writer, artist and thinker?
The Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, was not only a poet of international reputation, but also a strong advocate of beauty and truth. His sensitive mind is well-reflected in his innumerable poems and songs. While envisaging means of self-sustainability for the rural poor and economic regeneration at the grassroots level, Tagore nurtured a deep passion for both visual and performing arts.
On 30 November 1917, Jagadish Chandra Bose – Tagore’s good friend and fellow Bengali polymath – opens his own research institute. For Bose, newly retired from his position as Professor in Physics at Presidency College Calcutta, the Bose Research Institute is a lifelong dream come true. For the occasion, Tagore composes a song that remains the institute’s official anthem to this day.
Writing in 1962, Bengali writer, academic and raconteur Syed Mujtaba Ali recalls a particular memory while he was a student at Visva-Bharati. He had taken a newly acquired autograph book to his Gurudev Rabindranath, asking for a message. Rabindranath had written: ‘May my country realise that its fulfilment lies in truthful harmony with other countries’.
In a letter to C.F. Andrews, Rabindranath Tagore said, ‘We have no word for nation in our language. When we borrow this term from other people it never fits us.’1
An international peer reviewed e-journal brought out by the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs), Edinburgh Napier University We are in an exceptionally new situation, but elements of older experiences may clarify our vision if one finds the proper means of access.’1 (2016)