Cultural performances are being planned with gusto to celebrate the 152nd birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore on Thursday, Pachishey Baisakh, at Bangiya Sahitya Parishad here.

The cultural event has been organised by the local chapter of Bihar Bengalee Association. The celebrations will also mark the centenary of the Nobel prize being given to Tagore in 1913.

Bengali critic and former secretary of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad Binay Kumar Mahata said: “Bhagalpur has had a long association with Tagore and the people are always energetic about celebrating events associated with him. The people of Bhagalpur had given Tagore the title of Visva Kavi in 1910 when he had come to preside over the third Bangiya Sahitya Parishad convention here.”

In 1905, Tagore had taken the initiative to set up the first Bangiya Sahitya Parishad outside Bengal in Bhagalpur as a mark of protest against the partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon that year. The building of the organisation was constructed in 1939.

In 1910, Tagore had presided over the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad convention from February 13-15.

Amita Moitra, president, local chapter of Bihar Bengalee Association, said: “Gurudev (the title Mahatma Gandhi gave Tagore) had identified the potential of Bhagalpur and placed it on the horizon of Bengali literature and culture. He set up the first Bangiya Sahitya Parishad outside Bengal in Bhagalpur. It was established as a common platform for the Bengali-speaking people to remain united.”

A Bhagalpur resident, Uttam Devnath, said: “We always celebrate events associated with Tagore with great enthusiasm. Last year, the local unit of Bihar Bengalee Association had celebrated the completion of 150 years of his birth with great fanfare.”

Tapas Ghosh, another resident, however, stressed the need to conserve the historical monuments associated with Tagore. “Tilha Koti (where Tagore had stayed on his 1910 visit) is under the control of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University but the buildings of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad or Bhagalpur Institute are in want of maintenance,” he said.