the history of

Vande Mataram

Vande Mataram (I bow to thee Mother..) is a poem from the famed novel Anandamath which was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1882. It was written in Bengali and in Sanskrit. In 1950, the songs first two verses were given the official status of the national song of the Republic of India, distinct from the national anthem of India, Jana Gana Mana.

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was one of the earliest graduates of the newly established Calcutta University. After his BA, he joined the British Indian Government as a civil servant, becoming a District Magistrate and later a District Collector.

Chatterjee was very interested in the recent events, particularly the Revolt of 1857 and the previous centurys Sannyasi Rebellion.Around the same time, the administration was trying to promote God Save the Queen as the anthem for the Indian subjects, which Indian nationalists disliked. The concept of Vande Mataram came into Chatterjee when he was still a government official, around 1876. He wrote the poem in a spontaneous session using words from Sanskrit and Bengali. The poem was published in his book, Anandamath in 1882, which is set in the events of the Sannyasi Rebellion. Jadunath Bhattacharya was asked to set a tune for this poem just after it was written.

Indian Independence movement

Vande Mataram was the national cry for freedom from the British rule during the freedom movement. The British, fearful of the potential danger of an incited populace, at one point banned the utterance of the motto in public forums, and imprisoned many freedom fighters for disobeying the proscription. Rabindranath Tagore sang Vande Mataram in 1896 at the Calcutta Congress Session held at Beadon Square.

Dakhina Chandran Sen sang it in 1901 at another session of the Congress at Calcutta.Poet Salara Devi Saudurani sang the song in the Benares Congress Session in 1905. Lala Lajpat Rai started a journal called Vande Mataram from Lahore. Hiralal Sen made the first political film in 1905 which ended with the chant. Matangini Hazras last words as she was shot to death by the Crown Police were Vande Mataram.

In 1907, Bhikaiji Cama created the first version of Indias national flag in Stuttgart, Germany. It had Vande Mataram written in the middle band.

Adoption as

National Song

Tagores Jana Gana Mana, sung in praise of King George V, was chosen as the National Anthem of the Republic of India.

The song was first introduced on 27 Dec 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress (INC) and was sung on 30 Dec 1911 on the arrival of King George V.

Translation : Oh Lord of our destiny, you are the captain of our souls and the people of Bharat. Your name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindhu, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravida, Orissa and Bengal. Your auspicious name echoes in the Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingle in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and are chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. The saving of all people waits in your hand, Oh you dispenser of Indias destiny. Victory Victory Victoy to you (because you are ruling us and we are your servants.)

Vande Mataram was rejected on the grounds that Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs and Arya Samajis and others who opposed idol worship felt offended by its depiction of the nation as Mother Durga, a Hindu Goddess. Muslims also felt that its origin as part of Anandamath, a novel they felt had an anti-muslim message.The designation as "national song" predates independence, dating to 1937. At this date, the Indian National Congress discussed at length the status of the song.

It was pointed out then that though the first two stanzas began with an unexceptionable evocation of the beauty of the motherland, in later stanzas there are references where the motherland is likened to the Hindu goddess Durga. Therefore, INC decided to adopt only the first two stanzas as the national song. Vande Mataram is therefore NOT the NATIONAL ANTHEM.(Hence the idea of INC was that, India would feel proud to be a slave of the British rather than treating the nation as a Mother and singing her praises, because Vande Mataram sings her as a Hindu !).

The controversy became more complex in light of Rabindranath Tagores rejection of the song Vande Mataram. In his letter to Subhash Chandra Bose, in 1937, Tagore wrote : The core of Vande Mataram is a hymn to Goddess Durga: this is so plain that there can be no debate about it. Of course Bankimchandra does show Durga to be inseparably united with Bengal in the end, but no Mussulman [Muslim] can be expected patriotically to worship the tenhanded deity as 'Swadesh' [the nation]. The novel Anandamath is a work of literature, and so the song is appropriate in it. But Parliament is a place of union for all religious groups, and there the song cannot be appropriate. When Bengali Mussulmans show signs of stubborn fanaticism, we regard these as intolerable. When we too copy them and make unreasonable demands, it will be self-defeating."

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who was presiding the Constituent Assembly on 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 may authorise as occasion arises. and the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic 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).

Public Responses (Muslim Views)

Many Muslim organisations in India have declared fatwas against singing Vande Mataram, due to the song giving a notion of worshipping Mother India, which they consider to be shirk (idolatry). Muslim institutions in general, see Vande Mataram in bad light. Though a number of Muslim organizations and individuals have opposed Vande Mataram being used as a "national song" of India, citing many religious reasons, some Muslim personalities have admired and even praised it :Arif Mohammed Khan, a former Union Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government, wrote an Urdu translation of the song which starts as Tasleemat, maan tasleemat. On Sept 6, 2006, the President of All India Sunni Ulema Board Moulana Mufti Syed Shah Badruddin Qadri Aljeelani said that :"If you bow at the feet of your mother with respect, it is not shirk but only respect."

A.R. Rahmans album on Vande MataramIn 1997, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Independence, a musical album composed by A.R.Rahman, titled Vande Mataram, was released. The album, was met with overwhelming responses.

Rahman became the first Indian artist of popular music to go international when Vande Mataram was released simultaneously in 28 countries. Vande Mataram was the largest selling Indian non-film album internationally.Though there was some negative criticisms initially against Rahman for using phrases of India's national song Vande Mataram in the title track; "Maa Tujhe Salaam, with immense popularity and widespread appeal for the song from all over India, much of this criticism was ignored.

In 2002, BBC World Service conducted an international poll to choose ten most famous songs of all time. Around 7000 songs were selected from all over the world.

Vande Mataram from the movieAnand Math was ranked second !

VandeMataram