National Song

The title of the National Song of India “Vande Mataram” means “I praise the motherland, Mother”. The “mother goddess” in the song’s latter sections is understood as the people’s motherland – Banga Mata (Mother Bengal) and Bharat Mata (Mother India). 

The Sanskrit term Vande originates from Vand, which is found in the Rigveda as well as other Vedic manuscripts. Vand can mean to praise, rejoice, show honour, do a tribute, salute respectfully, revere, worship, adore, or present something respectfully etc. The Indo-European roots of Mataram are mātár in Sanskrit, méter in Greek, and mâter in Latin, all of which signify “mother.”

Rabindranath Tagore sang the now National song of India for the first time before the Indian National Congress in 1896. It was pivotal in the Indian independence struggle. In 1905, it became a well-known marching hymn for political activism and the Indian freedom movement. Sri Aurobindo, an Indian guru, freedom fighter and philosopher, named it the “National Anthem of Bengal.” 

The colonial government banned the song and the novel that consisted of it, but labourers and the public at large resisted the ban, many of whom were jailed multiple times for chanting it in public. The ban was overruled by the Indian government only after the nation acquired independence in 1947 from colonial rule.

Read the paragraphs below to know who wrote the National song of India, its history and its significance. 

Who Wrote The National Song?

The National Song was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Vande Mataram (literally translates: Mother, I bow to thee) is a song composed in heavily Sanskritized Bengali in the 1870s by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and featured in his Bengali novel Anandamath in 1882.

Composition and History of the Song

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was one of the first graduates of Calcutta University, which had then just been founded. Following his BA, he worked as a civil servant for the colonial government, rising through the ranks to become a Deputy Collector and then a Deputy Magistrate.

Chattopadhyay was fascinated by the recent incidents in Indian and Bengali history, especially the Revolt of 1857 and the Sanyasi Rebellion of the preceding century. At about the same time, the government was attempting to push “God Save the Queen” as the national song of India, a step that Indian nationalists despised. The idea of Vande Mataram is thought to have come to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay while he was still a government official, roughly around 1876.

At Chinsurah (now Chuchura), he penned Vande Mataram. He composed the lyrics in a spur-of-the-moment session utilising Sanskrit and Bengali language. The song was first released in 1882 in Chattopadhyay’s novel Anandamath, also depicting the chivalry of the sannyasis in the Sannyasi Rebellion. After the song was completed, Jadunath Bhattacharya was approached to compose a music for it.

Its Importance in the Indian Indpendence

During the Indian independence movement, Vande Mataram became one of the most renowned resistance songs. As a result, the colonial government outlawed the book and declared public singing of the song punishable. Many independence supporters were imprisoned by the colonial authority for breaking the ban, but the general population routinely broke the ban by chanting it in front of colonial officials. 

In 1896, Rabindranath Tagore performed Vande Mataram during the Calcutta Congress Session in Beadon Square. 5 years later, in 1901, Dakhina Charan Sen recited it at another Congress session in Calcutta. Sarala Devi Chaudurani, a poet, performed the song at the 1905 Benares Congress Session. 

In Stuttgart, Germany 1907, Bhikaiji Cama designed the first version of India’s national flag (the Tiranga). He wrote Vande Mataram in the middle section of the flag.

The first two stanzas of this song were printed as Matra Vandana on page 11 of Kranti Geetanjali, a book published by Arya Printing Press (Lahore) and Bharatiya Press (Dehradun) in 1929, and a ghazal by Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil was also supplied on its back, at page 12.

Arguments on the Song’s Selection as the National Song of India

After a panel comprising of Maulana Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Bose, Acharya Deva, and Rabindranath Tagore proposed the adoption, sections of Vande Mataram were selected as the national song of India by the Indian National Congress in 1937. 

While the first two stanzas opened with an unremarkable description of the grandeur of the motherland, the following stanzas contain references to the Hindu deity Durga.  The Muslim League and Muhammad Ali Jinnah both opposed the song for that reason.

To respect the views of non-Hindus, the full song was not chosen by Hindu dignitaries, and the assembly decided that anyone would be permitted to sing an alternate “unobjectionable song” at a public gathering if they did not want to sing Vande Mataram for private matters.

Following that, the Indian National Congress, with the assistance of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawahar Lal Nehru, chose to select only the first two verses as the national song of India to be performed at social events, and additional sections containing allusions to Durga and Lakshmi were removed.

Lyrics of the National Song of India Vande Mataram

vande mataram… vande mataram…

maataram..

sujalaam sufalaam malayaj sheetalaam sasyashyaamalaam maataram vande..

shubhra jyotsna pulakit yaaminiim phulla kusumita drumadal shobhiniim suhaasinim sumadhura bhaashhinim sukhadaam varadaam maataram.. vande mataram

Conclusion 

The national song of India is known and loved by not only Indians but people from across the globe for its sweet and grandeur lyrics. 

The BBC World Service held a worldwide polling survey in 2003 to determine the top ten most renowned songs of all time. Approximately 7000 songs from all across the globe were chosen. As per the BBC, respondents came from 155 countries and islands. Vande Mataram came in second place among the top ten songs.

The song is one of a kind.