West Bengal Artists

The arts of West Bengal

Rabindranath Tagore, whose books are listed above, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 and wrote the national anthem. Bengali cinema, made in Kolkata's Tollygunge, gave India Satyajit Ray, who received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1984 and the Bharat Ratna in 1992. The state's Information and Cultural Affairs Department runs its theatres, academies and the Kolkata International Film Festival.

India's national academies keep the record of its artists: the Sangeet Natak Akademi (music, dance and drama) and the Lalit Kala Akademi (painting and sculpture) give yearly awards and fellowships, and the Padma Awards site lists every Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan by state and field.

Sources: Sangeet Natak Akademi; Lalit Kala Akademi; Padma Awards, Ministry of Home Affairs; Government of West Bengal.