Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid rich tribute to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore on his birth anniversary. Hailing the Bard of Bengal for his "contribution to the freedom movement', PM Modi said, "Gurudev Tagore will always be remembered for his powerful thoughts."

Tagore's birth anniversary will be celebrated today across India.

President Pranab Mukherjee has also urged people to draw inspiration from Tagore's idea of 'oneness of humanity' as he greeted the country on the eve of the poet's birth anniversary.

"On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, I pay humble tribute to this great creative genius, who authored India's national anthem and won for Asia its first Nobel Prize in literature," he said.

Mukherjee said Tagore was an intellectual giant and that he was fascinated by the idea of interaction between civilisations through the exchange of knowledge about their cultures and literatures.


Image: Rabindranath Tagore with his daughter Madhurilata in 1890.