On 24 January 1950, the Constituent Assembly of India adopts Vande Mataram as the National Song of India
Vande Mataram, which means "I praise thee, Mother" in Sanskrit, is the national song of India. It was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1876.
The first two verses of the poem was adopted as the National Song of
India in October 1937 by the Congress.
The poem was first published in 1882 as part of Chatterjee's Bengali
novel, Anandmath.
It first gained political significance when it was recited by
Rabindranath Tagore at Congress in 1896. By 1905, it had become popular amongst
political activists and freedom fighters as a marching song. The song, as well
as Anandmath, were banned under British colonial rule under threat of
imprisonment, making its use revolutionary. The ban was ultimately overturned
by the Indian government upon independence in 1947.
On 24 January 1950, the Constituent
Assembly of India adopted it as the National Song of India. President of India,
Rajendra Prasad stated that the song should be honoured equally with the
national anthem of India, Jana Gana Mana. While the Constitution of
India does not make reference to a "national song", the Government
filed an affidavit at the Delhi High Court in November 2022 stating that Jana
Gana Mana and Vande Mataram would "stand on the same
level", and that citizens should show equal respect both.
Vande Mataram is important because it instilled a sense of patriotism and national
pride in the people of India.
Vande Mataram consists of two Sanskrit verses composed in a highly ornate form of
Bengali. The first verse is sung as a stanza, while the second verse is spoken.
It was later translated into many languages. The first one to translate
the national song of India was Sri Aurobindo. The national song finally got the
its English translation by Sri Aurobindo in 1909.
"The translation of Vande Mataram goes like this:
I worship thee, Mother,
richly wrought,
In faith and works and blended hues of thought,
In thy fair limbs how powerfully expresses
The one Supreme Deity!
Thou art wisdom, thou art ..."
No comments:
Post a Comment