Brief Context
Context India is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its national song, Vande Mataram. Historical Background Vande Mataram was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in Sanskrit and first appeared in the novel Anandamath in 1882. Anandamath is set against the backdrop of the 1769–73 Bengal famine and the Sanyasi Rebellion.
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Syllabus: GS1/ Modern History
Context
- India is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its national song, Vande Mataram.
Historical Background
- Vande Mataram was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in Sanskrit and first appeared in the novel Anandamath in 1882.
- Anandamath is set against the backdrop of the 1769–73 Bengal famine and the Sanyasi Rebellion.
- First sung by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 Indian National Congress session gave it national exposure.
- The song celebrates the motherland as an embodiment of strength, prosperity, and divinity and provided a poetic voice to India’s awakening national consciousness.
Rise of National Consciousness
- During the Swadeshi Movement of 1905, Vande Mataram emerged as the anthem of civil resistance.
- Vande Mataram, as a political slogan, was first used on 7 August 1905.
- For many young revolutionaries facing execution, Vande Mataram became the last chant before martyrdom, turning the song into a symbol of sacrifice.
- In 1907, Madam Bhikaji Cama raised the tricolour flag for the first-time outside India in Stuttgart, Berlin. The words Vande Mataram were written on the flag.
- In October 1905, a Bande Mataram Sampradaya was founded in North Calcutta to promote the idea of the Motherland as a mission and a religious passion.
- In 1906, an English daily titled Bande Mataram was launched under the editorship of Bipin Chandra Pal, with Aurobindo later joining as joint editor.
National Song
- After independence, the Constituent Assembly deliberated on the status of Vande Mataram.
- On 24 January 1950, the first two stanzas were adopted as India’s National Song.
About Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was one of the architects of modern Indian literature.
- As a distinguished novelist, poet, and essayist, his contributions significantly influenced the development of modern Bengali prose and the articulation of an emerging Indian nationalism.
- Other works: Durgeshanandini (1865), Kapalkundala (1866), and Devi Chaudhurani (1884).
Source: IE