Shilaidaha Padma river – The Memory of Rabindranath Tagore

The river is a recurrent motif in Rabindranath Tagore’s works. His literary genius was undoubtedly illuminated while staying by the bank of the Padma River at Shilaidaha, Kushtia, where he was sent by his father to supervise their zamindari estates.

River, as a symbol of life, becomes a prominent theme in his creative writings.

Whilst living at Shilaidaha, Tagore wrote ‘Sonar Tori’, ‘Chitra’, ‘Choitali’, ‘ Konika, ‘ Khinika’, ‘Kolpona’, ‘Kotha’, ‘Noibadya’, ‘Chitrangada’, ‘Malinee’, ‘Chinnapatrabali’ _ in each of these poems the presence of river is significant.

In Shilaidaha, where Tagore passed his most creative days, the Padma influenced his mind immensely. In the letters of ‘Chinapatrabali’, the writer often mentioned the magical influence of the Padma, which seemed to engulf his whole entity.

He confesses: “I love the Padma River.…While rowing in a boat on the Padma, it becomes a living personality to me.”

Romantic poets imbue personality into inanimate things; Tagore did it fascinatingly. The whole of nature was enlivened in his poetic works, and the river was the most prominent among his natural things.