A CENTRE dedicated to the icon of Indian learning and cultural Rabindranath Tagore has been officially inaugurated at King’s College London.
The Tagore Centre for Global Thought was opened in a ceremony on Wednesday ( 3) attended by Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister of Culture, Government of India, and Dr Virander K Paul, deputy High Commissioner of India in London.
The Centre, housed in the prestigious King’s India Institute, has been established to engage audiences with India’s intellectual traditions whilst addressing a number of contemporary global questions and dilemmas. The Centre was founded in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India as part of celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of Tagore’s birth, taking inspiration from his work to enhance academic, intellectual and philosophical work globally.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a Bengali poet, writer and musician who became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature one hundred years ago in 1913. He became famous for introducing Indian poetry, literature and culture to the West and is thought to have influenced a number of 20th century writers and philosophers.
Speaking at the launch event in London, India's Minister of Culture said: “I’m delighted to officially inaugurate The Tagore Centre of Global Thought at King’s College London.
“Inspired as it is by Tagore’s thought, the Centre will of course range much more widely across India’s intellectual traditions and debates, bringing them into connection with global discussions and spreading his ideology all around the world. In this regard, there could be no better place to locate such a centre than at King’s India Institute."
He added: "I look forward to the Centre becoming an international hub for engaging India’s intellectual traditions with global debate and encouraging new ideas to flourish.”
Professor Sunil Khilnani, Avantha Professor and Director of the King’s India Institute, said: "Throughout his life, Tagore strove to find a language that allowed Indian philosophy and culture to speak to the rest of the world.
" The Tagore Centre for Global Thought will act as a focal point for exploring the global implications of modern India's intellectual traditions and highlight the ways in which Indian and South Asian ideas have long played an important role in global intellectual life."
