Year-long events to be held from today to mark the 150th anniv of ‘Vande Mataram’

NEW DELHI: A number of commemorative events are being organized across the country to mark the 150th anniversary of the composition of India’s National song Vande Mataram that falls on Friday.

This composition, an enduring anthem, has inspired countless generations of freedom fighters and nation builders, standing as a lasting emblem of India’s national identity and collective spirit.

Composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, ‘Vande Mataram’ was first published in the literary journal Bangadarshan on November 7, 1875. Later, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee incorporated the hymn in his immortal novel ‘Anandamath’ which was published in 1882. It was set to music by Rabindranath Tagore and became an integral part of the nation’s civilizational, political and cultural consciousness.

As the nation celebrates 150 years of Vande Mataram, the government has planned year-long commemorative activities across India. These events will be organized beginning Friday to honour its enduring legacy as a song of unity, resistance, and national pride. Institutions, cultural bodies, and educational centres are organising seminars, exhibitions, musical renditions, and public readings to revisit the song’s historical and cultural significance.

On Friday, a national Level inaugural programme of the commemoration will be held in the national capital and other events will be organized at tehsil level across the country. A commemorative stamp and coin will also be released, an exhibition on the history of Vande Mataram will be organised, and a short film will be screened. At the national level, the programme features prominent singers from across the country presenting different adaptations of Vande Mataram.

As part of year-long activities, Special programmes to be hosted on All India Radio and Doordarshan and FM radio campaign and Press Information Bureau will organize panel discussions and dialogues on Vande Mataram in Tier 2 and 3 cities. A cultural evening dedicated to the spirit of Vande Mataram to be organized in all Indian Missions and Posts across the world. A global music festival dedicated to the spirit of Vande Mataram will also be organised. Vande Mataram: Salute to Mother Earth - Tree plantation drives will be undertaken and patriotic murals will be created and displayed on highways. Vande Mataram. About 25 brief duration films each on different facets of Vande Mataram, the Life story of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the role of Vande Mataram in the freedom struggle, and the history of India will be made, and outreach will be done via social media.

The development of the hymn from a poetic composition to a national song exemplifies India’s collective awakening against colonial dominance. The song was first published in 1875. This is corroborated by a passage in the English daily Bande Mataram written by Sri Aurobindo on 16 April 1907, that it was 32 years ago that Bankim composed his renowned song.

He further observed that few listened at that time, but during a moment of awakening from long delusions, the people of Bengal looked around for truth, and in a fateful moment, someone sang “Bande Mataram.”

Prior to its publication in book form, Anand Math was serialised in the Bengali monthly magazine Bangadarshan, of which Bankim was the founder editor. 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.

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s other notable works which significantly influenced the development of modern Bengali prose and the articulation of an emerging Indian nationalism, include Anandamath (1882), Durgeshnandini (1865), Kapalkundala (1866), and Devi Chaudhurani (1884). These also reflect the social, cultural, and moral concerns of a colonised society striving for self-identity.