Lucknow: Lucknow Bangiya Nagarik Samaj organised a grand celebration of the 165th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore on May 7, 2026, at the newly developed Rabindra Upvan located opposite the Hindi Sansthan on M.G. Marg near the DM residence in Hazratganj.
The day-long programme, held from noon to 8 pm, commenced with floral tributes to Gurudev Tagore’s grand statue at 12 pm. The garlanding ceremony was led by the organisation’s patron and noted social worker Sudhir Halwasiya.
As part of the celebrations, participants collectively recited “Vande Mataram” and distributed sweets among attendees. In a symbolic gesture of respect towards the national anthem and national song, saplings were planted in the names of Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
From 3 pm onwards, literary sessions featuring poetry recitations and speeches on Tagore’s contributions to literature, nationalism and humanism were organised. Eminent speakers and participants included Ratna Bapuli, Dr. Madhavi Mishra, Vijay Kumari Maurya, Mukeshanand, Krishnanand Shri, Dr. Sharad Pandey, Shashank, Praveen Kumar Shukla “Gobar Ganesh,” S.K. Mishra ‘Bhramar Baiswari,’ Sanjay Mehrotra Humnawa, Ramraj Bharti, Dinesh Soni, Bharti Payal and Jyoti Kiran Ratan.
At 6 pm, the prestigious “Sera Bangali (Amulya Bangali) Samman” was conferred upon several distinguished families and individuals for their contributions to society. Recipients included the families of Badal Chatterjee, Nitin Dey, Ashok Dey, A.K. Saxena, Kishore Dey, Nihar Dey, Dr. U.K. Mukherjee, I.S. Bhattacharya, Asim Roy and Pankaj Bose.
Senior Citizen Honours were also presented to Krishnanand Shri, D.K. Pal, Praveen Kumar Shukla “Gobar Ganesh,” S.C. Chaubey and S.C. Johri.
The cultural segment featured soulful recitations of Tagore’s poems and songs by Mitthu Roy, Dr. Uttam Mukherjee and Sonali Mitra Goswami, who presented “Rabindra Avritti” with remarkable expression and precision.
The concluding tribute ceremony began at 7 pm with a grand Deepdaan programme attended by several distinguished personalities, including Sudhir Halwasiya, Rohit Agarwal, Dr. J.B. Ghosh, Rupesh Mandal, Harish Chandra Dutta, Dr. V.K. Dutta, S.N. Pal, Jyotsna Singh, Malaviya Dutta, Harsh Kumar, A.K. Bose, P.K. Srivastava, Anoop Sharan Singh, Vijay Kumari Maurya, Sajjan Tiwari, Reena Chatterjee, Deepak Haldar, C.A. Naresh Chandra Agarwal, Subhash Chandra Singhal and Pal Praveen.
During the vote of thanks, chief convenor P.K. Dutta appealed to the Uttar Pradesh government to rename the road connecting Hanuman Setu to Daliganj as “Vande Mataram Marg” and install a statue of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay along the route. He also reiterated the demand to dedicate a road in Faizullaganj Ward No. 1 to Subhas Chandra Bose and the Azad Hind Fauj. The organisers noted that both demands are already pending before the Uttar Pradesh government and Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharkwal.
The programme concluded with a collective rendition of “Jana Gana Mana,” India’s national anthem composed by Rabindranath Tagore.
