Sweden marks Tagore’s Nobel Prize centenary

Bhubaneswar, Nov 14: The embassy of Sweden marked the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize in literature by unveiling a sand sculpture of him in Odisha, the embassy said on Thursday.

The sand sculpture, created by an international award-winning sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, was unveiled by Frida Zaric, counsellor in the embassy of Sweden in India. It was unveiled on the beach Nov 13, the day Tagore’s prize was announced in 1913.

"The embassy of Sweden is delighted to celebrate the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize in literature – the first non-European to receive the prize in literature and the first Indian to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize," Zaric said, lauding Pattnaik’s creativity.

"The sand sculpture is indeed a unique way to honour him."

"It is a matter of pride for me to create the sand sculpture and honour Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore with the embassy of Sweden. The contribution of his work has given India recognition all over the world," Sudarsan Pattnaik said.

The Sweden-India Nobel Memorial Week is a high-profile, multi-city, multi-activity annual event organised by the embassy of Sweden in India, in cooperation with leading Swedish businesses in India.

The week is instituted in memory of Swedish innovator, entrepreneur and philanthropist Alfred Nobel and celebrates the Indian Nobel laureate as well.

The seventh edition of the Sweden-India Nobel Memorial Week pays a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on his 100th anniversary of winning the prize.

The programme will take place across eight cities: New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Mumbai from Oct 25 to Nov 16.