Hinduism - Where Is West Bengal In India?

West Bengal is a state in modern India. After India's independence in 1947, the state of Bengal was partitioned into West Bengal and West Pakistan, the latter of which is today known as Bangladesh.

The majority of the state is located in the Ganges River delta's lowlands, however Darjeeling stretches into the Himalayas in the north.

Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal, served as the administrative hub of British India until the turn of the century.

It was also a hotbed of anti-British resistance and is now one of India's most important cultural and intellectual hubs.

Kalighat, in the center of Calcutta, as well as Dakshi neshwar, Tarakeshvar, Tarapith, and Navadvip, are all prominent holy places in West Bengal.

Christine Nivin et al., India, 8th ed., Lonely Planet, 1998, is an accessible reference for general information on West Bengal and all of India's provinces.

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Hinduism - Who Was Rabindranath Tagore? What Is Tagore Jayanti?

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) was a Bengali poet who lived from 1861 to 1941.

Poet and Nobel Laureate in Literature, for his Gitanjali ("Garland of Songs"), which was awarded in 1912.

Tagore was born into a powerful and rich landed family, allowing him to devote all of his energies to his writing. 

Bust of Tagore At Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, London, United Kingdom.

Tagore hales from the land owning or land lord community and caste of Tagore(Bengali variation) also known as Thakur across Northern India.

Aside from his illustrious literary output, he taught extensively both in India and abroad; in the latter, he highlighted the need of preserving spiritual ideals, whilst in India, he emphasized the importance of meeting people's material necessities.

He created the Vishva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, in 1921.

The institution was committed to delivering an education that met both of these objectives, allowing students to grow into well-rounded individuals.

For further detail, read Krishna Kripalani's Rabindranath Tagore: A Biography, published in 1980. 

And Donald R. Tuck's "Rabindranath Tagore: Religion as a Constant Struggle for Balance," published in Robert D. Baird's Religion in Modern India, published in 1998.

Tagore Jayanti is a commemoration of Rabindranath Tagore's birthday.

On May 8, the day he was born in 1861, a holiday honoring the Bengali poet, philosopher, and thinker Rabindranath Tagore is observed.

Tagore's birthday is observed according to the solar calendar of the common period, rather than the lunar calendar that controls most religious observances, as is the case with most twentieth-century individuals.

Tagore's birthday has special significance because, although he is most recognized for his literary accomplishments, he was also a religious preceptor (guru).

~Kiran Atma

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Hinduism - Where Is Mayapur, And The Headquarters Of The ISKCON?

 

 City in West Bengal, some 65 miles north of Calcutta, on the western bank of the Hugli River, across from the holy city of Navadvip.

Navadvip's claim to be the birthplace of the Bengali saint Chaitanya is older.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), often known as the Hare Krishnas, supports the assertion that Mayapur was Chaitanya's birthplace.

ISKCON has a beautiful temple complex at Mayapur that serves as the organization's headquarters.

E. Alan Morinis' Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition, published in 1984, has a wealth of information on this place.

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