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Primary sourceBook1881

Valmikipratibha

Rabindranath Tagore · 1881

Tagore's 1881 Bengali musical drama, which he wrote and performed in himself, blending Indian and Western musical styles.

Tagore wrote this opera and performed the lead role of Valmiki himself.

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Framed title page of the Bengali musical play Valmiki Pratibha, printed in black on cream paper. A woman with a halo sits and rests her head on her hand beside a lotus pond, with flowers and foliage bordering the page. Bengali text gives the title, the form Giti-natya, and the printing details: Calcutta, Adi Brahma Samaj press, Kalidas Chakravarti.
Title page of Valmikipratibha by Rabindranath Tagore, Calcutta, Adi Brahma Samaj Press.

About this source

What it is

This is Valmikipratibha, a Bengali opera written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1881, based on the legend of the robber Ratnakara who became the sage Valmiki. Tagore himself played Valmiki when it was first performed at Jorasanko Thakur Bari in 1881, with his niece Pratibha Devi as the goddess Saraswati.

Why it matters

Composed when Tagore was young, the opera mixes classical, folk, and European musical strains, reflecting influences he picked up partly from music he heard in England. It shows his early experiments combining performance, music, and storytelling, and was staged before leading literary figures of his time.

Look closer

  • What does the story of a robber becoming a poet suggest about transformation and redemption?
  • Why might Tagore have chosen to perform the lead role himself?
  • How might blending Indian and European music have been received by audiences at the time?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rabindranath Tagore on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the book Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats, published by Macmillan and Co., London, 1913.Book

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Rabindranath Tagore · 1912

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore leaving a building, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

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Tagore Leaves the Sigtuna Foundation

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

Title page of Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats. Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1913.Book

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Gitanjali

Rabindranath Tagore · 1910

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore standing with K.B. Westman and M. Björkqvist, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

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Tagore with K.B. Westman and M. Björkqvist

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

Piano sheet music score titled 'Jana Gana Mana' by Rabindranath Tagore, in D minor/F major key with 4/4 time, tempo 96, two staves (treble clef) with dynamics like f, p, ff and a fermata at the end.Document

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Jana Gana Mana

Rabindranath Tagore · 11 December 1911

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