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History and significance
It is generally believed that the concept of
Vande Mataram
came toBankimchandra Chattopadhyaywhen he was still a government officialunder theBritish Raj. Around 1870, the British rulers of India haddeclared that singing of
would be mandatory.
Hewrote it in a spontaneous session using words from two languages hewas expert in, Sanskrit and Bengali. However, the song was initiallyhighly criticized for the difficulty in pronunciation of some of thewords.
(pronounced
Anondomôţh
in Bengali), published in1882 amid fears of a ban byBritish Raj. However, the song itself wasactually written in 1876.
Jadunath Bhattacharya set the tune for thissong just after it was written.
"Vande Mataram"
was the national cry for freedom from Britishoppression during thefreedom movement. Large rallies, fermentinginitially inBengal, in the major metropolis of Calcutta, would work
themselves up into a patriotic fervour by shouting the slogan "VandeMataram," or "Hail to the Mother(land)!". The British, fearful of thepotential danger of an incited Indian populace, at one point banned theutterance of the motto in public forums, and imprisoned manyfreedomfightersfor disobeying the proscription.Rabindranath Tagoresang
Vande Mataram
in 1896 at theCalcuttaCongress Session held atBeadon Square.Dakhina Charan Sensang it five years later in 1901 atanother session of the Congress atCalcutta. PoetSarala Devi
Chauduranisang the song in theBenaresCongress Session in 1905.
Lala Lajpat Raistarted a journal called
Vande Mataram
Hiralal Senmade India's first political film in 1905 which ended withthe chant.Matangini Hazra's last words as she was shot to death bytheCrown policewere
Vande Mataram
In 1907,Bhikaiji Cama(1861-1936) created the first version of India'snational flag (the Tiranga) in Stuttgart, Germany in 1907. It had VandeMataram written on it in the middle band
A number of lyrical and musical experiments have been done andmany versions of the song have been created and released throughoutthe 20th century. Many of these versions have employed traditional
South Asian classical ragas. Versions of the song have been visualized
on celluloid in a number of films including
,
and
. It is widely believed that the tune set forAll India Radio station version was composed byRavi Shankar.
Jana Gana Manawas chosen as theNational Anthemof independent
India.
Vande Mataram
was rejected on the grounds thatMuslimsfeltoffended by its depiction of the nation as "MotherDurga"—aHindu
goddess— thus equating the nation with the Hindu conception of shakti, divine feminine dynamic force; and by its origin as part of
, a novel they felt had ananti-Muslimmessage (seeExternal linksbelow).In 1937 the Indian National Congress discussed at length the status of the song. It was pointed out then that though the first two stanzasbegan with an unexceptionable evocation of the beauty of themotherland, in later stanzas there are references where themotherland is likened to the Hindu goddessDurga. Therefore, theCongress decided to adopt only the first two stanzas as the nationalsong.
[edit] Rabindranath Tagore on
Vande Mataram
"
Vande Mataram
! These are the magic words which will open the doorof his iron safe, break through the walls of his strong room, andconfound the hearts of those who are disloyal to its call to say
VandeMataram
." (Rabindranath Tagorein Glorious Thoughts of Tagore, p.165) The controversy becomes more complex in the light of Rabindranath Tagore's rejection of the song as one that would unite all communitiesin India. In his letter toSubhash Chandra Bose(1937) Rabindranathwrote,"The core of
Vande Mataram
is ahymnto goddess Durga:this is so plain that there can be no debate about it. Of course Bankimchandra does show Durga to be inseparablyunited with Bengal in the end, but no Mussulman [Muslim]can be expected patriotically to worship the ten-handeddeity as 'Swadesh' [the nation]. This year many of thespecial [Durga] Puja numbers of our magazines havequoted verses from
Vande Mataram
- proof that the editorstake the song to be a hymn to Durga. The novel
Anandamath
is a work of literature, and so the song isappropriate in it. But Parliament is a place of union for allreligious groups, and there the song cannot be appropriate.
When Bengali Mussalmans show signs of stubbornfanaticism, we regard these as intolerable. When we toocopy them and make unreasonable demands, it will be self-defeating."In a postscript to this same letter Rabindranath says,"Bengali Hindus have become agitated over this matter,but it does not concern only Hindus. Since there are strongfeelings on both sides, a balanced judgement is essential.In pursuit of our political aims we want peace, unity andgood will - we do not want the endless tug of war thatcomes from supporting the demands of one faction overthe other."
In the last decade Vande Mataram has been used as a rallying cry byHindu nationalists in India, who have challenged the status of thecurrent national anthem by Rabindranath.
[edit] Dr. Rajendra Prasad on
Vande Mataram
Dr.Rajendra Prasad, who was presiding theConstituent Assemblyon
January 24,1950, made the following statement which was also
adopted as the final decision on the issue:
The composition consisting of words and music known as Jana Gana Mana is the National Anthem of India, subject to such alterations as the Government mayauthorise as occasion arises, and the song Vande Mataram, which has played ahistoric part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honored equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it. (Applause) I hope this will satisfy members.
(Constituent Assembly of India, Vol. XII, 24-1-1950)
Vande Mataram
in schools shouldbe made mandatory. The ruling coalition (UPA) and Oppositionmembers debated over the Government's stance that singing theNational Song
Vande Mataram
on September 7, 2006 to mark the125th year celebration of its creation should be voluntary. This led tothe House to be adjourned twice. Human Resources DevelopmentMinisterArjun Singhnoted that it was not binding on citizens to singthe song. Arjun Singh had earlier asked all state governments toensure that the first two stanzas of the song were sung in all schoolson that day.BJPDeputy LeaderV K Malhotrawanted the Government
to clarify whether singing the national song on September 7 in schoolswas mandatory or not. On August 28, targeting the BJP, Congress
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