Gagendranath Tagore Biography 
Gagendranath Tagore, a member of legendary Tagore family of Bengal was a musician and theatre personality. He was the founder-secretary of Hindu Mela and played his role in the cultural renaissance of Bengal during 19th century. He was one among the first students to pass the Entrance Examinations from University of Kolkata.
He is the grandson of Dwarkanath Tagore, the founder of Jorasanko branch of the Tagore family and the eldest son of Girindranth and Jogmaya Devi couple born in 1841. He didn’t have any children. Noted painters, Gaganendranath, Samarendranath and Abanindranath were his nephews, born to his younger brother, Gunendranath. Debendranath Tagore was his uncle and thus, Dwijendranath Tagore, Satyendranath Tagore, Hemendranath Tagore, Jyotirindranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore and Swarnakumari Tagore were his first cousins. All these personalities were extremely talented and provided the basement of cultural renaissance of Bengal. They lived in the joint family of Tagore which was then known as “Baitakkhana Bari” of Jorasanko Thakur Bari. He was younger to Dwijendranath but older to Satyendranath and hence known by the name, ‘Mejadada’ (second elder brother) in the joint family.
His school education was done at Hindu school, Kolkata. He and Satyendranath Tagore were among the first students who passed Entrance examination from Calcutta University when it was introduced in 1857. Among his works, translation of Kalidas’ Sanskrit play Vikramorvashiya to Bengali is one among his noted works. He composed devotional songs known as Brahma Sangeet and patriotic songs as well.
He loved theatre a lot and was the founder of Jorasanko Natyasala in Kolkata. The first staged play was Krishnakumari written by Michael Madhusudan Dutta. To promote playwrights, he announced a prize for writing plays on social themes. Along with Dwijendranath Tagore, Rajnarayan Basu, and Nabagopal Mitra, he founded Hindu mela in 1867. His song, “Lajjay Bharat-jas gaibo ki kore” was quite popular.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 06, 2014
