Handwritten letters by Rabindranath Tagore to be auctioned

Hindustan Times

24-06-2025

A set of 35 handwritten letters penned by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore to renowned sociologist and musicologist Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji, between 1927 and 1936, will come up for online auction at Mumbai's Astaguru Auction House between June 25 and 26. Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. (File Photo)
The letters, all written in a measured and neat Bengali script, carry a world of details that offers insights into the poet's internal world as well as his response to the literary milieu of the time.
Mukerji, though most known for his work as a Marxist sociologist, was also a keen critic of literature, drama and music.
Many of these letters are written on different letterheads, including Visva-Bharati, the university Tagore founded in Santiniketan, his Uttarayan residence, Glen Eden in Darjeeling, and aboard his houseboat, Padma.
Through these exchanges, we see an aging Tagore explain his literary choices candidly to Mukerji — in one instance, he requests Mukerji to not repeat his assessment of a performance by Uday Shankar, a famous danseuse, and in another, he rains scorn over the puritanism of sections of Bengali intelligentsia, and refers to them as the 'Bengali Ku Klux Klan', comparing them to the White supremacists of the United States of America, for their rabid intolerance towards stylistic difference.
In yet another, Tagore doesn't spare Mukerji, either. Tagore's letters offer a glimpse of the world he occupied and are deeply philosophical.
Critiquing the renowned sociologist's book for its stern realism, Tagore refers to his own play, Bansari, which mocks pretensions of realism. Tagore defends the value of imagination and illusion in art. Human beings, he insists, need more than facts — they need stories, music, and painting. Tagore finally requests Mukerji to publish the letter in order to make his literary position clear.
Mukerji seemed to have taken it on the chin and for good reason. Tagore also wrote letters defending Mukerji from other literary critics.
In one, Tagore reflects on the type of people who, under the guise of duty, take pleasure in inflicting harm. He compares them to a Bengali version of the Ku Klux Klan, driven not by moral conviction but by a craving for violence and domination. Tagore defends a piece written by Mukerji, and says that it was misrepresented by malicious critics.
In one letter, he acknowledges Uday Shankar's dexterity and dedication to dance, but adds that Shankar, whose ballet troupe revolutionised classical dance, lacked deeper creative essence—he has crafted a beautiful form but not yet invoked the 'goddess' of art. Later, Tagore shoots off a letter to Mukerji asking him to not publish his criticism of Shankar, for fear of public misinterpretation and unnecessary controversy. The Heart is the only known sculptural piece attributed to Rabindranath Tagore. It will also come up for auction in the two-day sale.
Tagore demonstrated a strong adherence to classical Bengali poetic traditions with Western Romantic aesthetics in his early works like Kabi-Kahini (1882) and Manasi (1890). Over time, however, his writing undergoes a vast change: he is more introspective, focused on the inner world of his characters, and begins to use free verse. The shift, which becomes evident in Gitanjali — the work that won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 — is evidently towards modernist experimentation and deep philosophical inquiry. But global recognition did not silence his critics back home. In one letter, he defends his late works, Punascha, and Shesh Saptak for the form. 'The rhythm of silence,' he writes, 'is part of the poem.'
Tagore's letters also offer a glimpse of the world he occupied: in Santiniketan, where he built a university, he writes about administrative matters keeping him from his creative endeavours, and in the same breath, explains the need for 'adaptation' to allow for 'creativity' — rigid orthodoxy is nothing but 'educated idiocy', he writes, and hopes that the Bengali cultured folk would understand that. Santiniketan is ideal both for focused reading and research or for relaxed leisure, Tagore tells Mukerji in one instance. Extending an invitation, Tagore tells Mukerji that Santiniketan offers it all, with teachers and truant intellectuals alike. He specifically highlights the presence of artist Nandalal Bose [who went on to hand draw the art in the Indian Constitution], playfully referring to his impact as 'Nandanology' and suggesting the term, Nandankala, to describe the rich aesthetic environment.
'The letters are deeply philosophical and capture Rabindranath Tagore's voice during a pivotal era of artistic and intellectual transformation,' said Siddharth Sivakumar, curatorial director, Astaguru. 'Mukerji, in turn, is not just a correspondent—he is a witness, a mirror, and a friend.'
'These aren't just letters, they're windows into a shifting India, into a poet's evolution, into the founding philosophy of Santiniketan itself,' Manoj Mansukhani, CMO, AstaGuru Auction House, said.
The letters range between one and 12 pages long, and are accompanied by 14 envelopes. While 29 of these letters were published in literary magazines like Parichay, and books like Sangitchinta, Sur O Sangiti, and Chhanda, at least four are unpublished. Designated as national treasures, no buyer will be allowed to take these letters outside the country and the payment will have to be made in Indian currency alone. These belong to a private collection based in Kolkata, and are valued between ₹ 5 crore to 7 crore.
Works by other artists like Bose, Krishen Khanna, Prabhakar Bharwe will also form part of the auction.