diverse (Bichitro), patriotic (Deshatmobodhok). Although Deshatmobodh and patriotism are completely antipodal concepts, yet the difficulties of translation present themselves, apart from songs specified for certain events or occasions (Aanushtthanik) and the songs he composed for his numerous plays and dance-dramas. Collections The book forming a collection of all 2,233 songs written by Rabindranath is called Gitabitan ("Garden of songs") and forms an important part of extant historical materials pertaining to Bengali musical expression. The six major parts of this book are Puja (worship), Prem (love), Prakriti (seasons), Swadesh (patriotism), Aanushthanik (occasion-specific), Bichitro (miscellaneous) and Nrityonatya (dance dramas and lyrical plays). The Swarabitan, published in 64 volumes, includes the texts of 1,721 songs and their musical notation. The volumes were first published between 1936 and 1955. Earlier collections, all arranged chronologically, include Rabi Chhaya (1885), Ganer Bahi or Valmiki Pratibha (1893), Gan (1908), and Dharmashongit (1909). Exponents Since the establishment of the Sangeet Bhavan of Tagore's own Visva-Bharati University at Shantiniketan, along with its codification of Rabindra Sangeet instruction, multiple generations have created Rabindra Sangeet (its aesthetics and singing style) into a tangible cultural tradition breeding many singers who now specialize in singing Tagore's works. Some notable early exponents of Rabindra Sangeet who laid down its foundations and continue to inspire generations of singers include: Kanika Banerjee. Suchitra Mitra, Hemant Kumar, Debabrata Biswas, Sagar Sen, Subinoy Roy, Chinmoy Chattopadhyay and Sumitra Sen. Historical influence Rabindra Sangeet has been an integral part of Bengal culture for over a century. Hindu monk and Indian social reformer Swami Vivekananda became an admirer of Rabindra Sangeet in his youth. He composed music in the Rabindra Sangeet style, for example Gaganer Thale in Raga Jaijaivanti. Many of Tagore's songs form the worship hymnal and hymns in many Churches in Kolkata and West Bengal. Some examples are Aaguner Poroshmoni, Klanti Amar Khoma Koro Probhu, Bipode More Rokkha Koro and Aanondoloke Mongolaloke. Digitization As of July 2016, 7,864 Rabindra Sangeet have been digitized by Saregama and is available online for download. See also Music of Bengal Works of Rabindranath Tagore References Works cited Further reading For year of composition, raga and tala of Tagore's songs, see: Chandra, Sudhir (2002). Rabindrasangeet: Rag-Shur Nirdeshika. Papyrus, Kolkata. Mukhopadhyay, Prabhat Kumar (2003). Gitabitan: Kalanukromik Shuchi. Tagore Research Institute, Kolkata. External links tagoreweb.in, contains complete works of Tagore, including his songs, Bengali-language literature Bengali music Culture of West Bengal Indian literature Culture of