Sickled BHARAT MATA, Vande Mataram, Bankim Chandra, Kishan Chandra Bhagat and his Research on Ananda Math and INTACH

[PalashKL]

Sickled BHARAT MATA, Vande Mataram, Bankim Chandra, Kishan Chandra
Bhagat and his Research on Ananda Math and INTACH


Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 107
Palash Biswas

Vande Mataram/Matarm - Lata Mangeshkar
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=s1UgUpKz3Lc

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Vande Mataram Anand Math Lata Hemant Bankim Original
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=xj1Iy4nRMkc

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Vande Mataram - Maa Tujhe Salaam (A.R.Rahman)
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ399KOoNRA


The grat Indian Academic personalities like Jadunath Sarkar, Dr Ramesh
Chandra Majumdar and Chandranath Basu dismissed Anandmath as an
IMAGINARY MIST without any Historical base. Perhaps most powerful
Prose writer in this subcontinent Akhtaruzzaman Ilius complained that
Bankim lacked Social realism and his writings were nothing but
Romantic Illusion about the past. But on teacher from Lalgola,
Murshidabad, Kishanchand Bhagat originally from Balia, an OBC by
caste, has discovered all the relevant Historical and Anthropological
facts and evidences to amke sense of hard social realism in Bankim
literature, specially Anandmath. He invested himself to invent the
sources of Vande Matram and Anadmath. He rediscovered the Geopolitics
of Gaur and Murshidabad aling with NATORE. He tried to know the old
changing demography and had done a marvellous Anthropological research
on the delta of Bhagirathi Hugli and Padma rivers. He has sought the
missing links of Ancient bengal History known as DARK Age and wiped
out of our Memory. He has troubled himself to look into indigenous,
aboriginal, black untouchable roots of Bangla as well as Indian
nationality. though the President of India has recognised the man as
National Teacher, but the Bengali brahaminical hegemony has done
everything to derecognise him.


The KALKALI river and adjacent dense forest described with magnificent
details in Anandmath, is not and Illusion! Nor is the sickled Bharat
Mata.

I crossed the Kalkali river and reached KHADUA, the Village being
submerged into river PADMA. Only a few months back a BSF Camp and a
School along with local residences and approach road submerged into
the river. The Local MP happens to be non other than the DE Facto
Prime Minister of India, the Keeranhar Elite Brahamin Pranab
Mukherjee, who did a ariel survey of the Submergence but it did not
help our People neither in their Survival strategy nor Sustenance as
the area is inhibited by Black untouchables mostly who starve.

Bankim`s Anand Math was based on the background of Bengal Famine and
Sanyasee Vidroh.

I visited the Bharat Mata Mandir on the Bank of KALKALI which is
converted into a cluster of Moats by the department of Fishery.
Kalkali, Halhali and Bansuli are the three goddesses indigenous of
Buddhist Origin sustain themselves on the bank of kalkali. The worship
does not require any Brahamin. Mr Bhagat claimed that Paundra
Khatriyas lived in Diwan E Sarai, the village Padachinha. I also
visited the Lalgola Ghat which connected the bengali people across
river Padma during British Period. The Palce where Ritwik Ghatak
zoomed his shot on Padma in his classic film KOMAL GANDHAR.

Natore stands on the other side of padma where rani Bhavani ruled.
Rani Bhavani was arrested by Waren Hestings. As the queen ruled all
over North Bengal and helped all the sadhus and Tantriks, Maths and
Mandirs around, this incident invoked the great rebel of religious men
against East India company. Bankim lived in the area and roamed in the
dense forest accross Kalkali river. He disguied as a sadhu and had
been in contact of the Tantrics. Raja Jogendra Narayan Roy of Lala
Gola who was also in contact of Rabindra Nath Tagore later, provided
Bankim Shelter in the Nahabat Khana of the Sickled Bharat mata Mandir.
Nearby stands the Raghunath Jee Temple which we visited. The rebel
sadhus and tantrics involved
in Sanyasee Vidroh replaced all the Idols of Hindu Gods and goddesses
in the Temple as a safe place mastered by the Lalgola Raj. We saw the
Idols, 31 Narayan shilas and 36 Shivalinga placed in the Temple during
the Sanyasee Insurrection.

Mr Bhagat had to attend the school. he could not accompany us but MRS
Bhagat, his youngest son RAVI, daughter RUMPA and grandson AAUSH
revisited the Bharat mata Temple with us.

Sabita tried to sing a Shyama sanget as it is told that Nazrul wrote
all of his Shyama sangeet inspired by the Idol.

The Idol is endangered as Sabita pointed out to the Pujari in Charge.
It is chained as it has been in British period and at the time of
writing Vande Mataram. The Mother India is chained by her wiest. The
Goddess is Nacked in original but it is dressed now. Her hands are
sickled. it may perish any time. But INTACH and Governments of India
and West bengal are never concerned. the place is quite unprotected.
IT is shocking!

I have focused on the Dark age of bengal`s history. Thus, I have an
agenda to visit and revist the gaur Murshidabad zone again and again.
The insurrections and Resistance continue across the Ganges and
extended to Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and even Chhattisgargh. The
centre of CHUAR Vidroh Midnapur is on internation media focus due to
Nandigram and Lalgargh. But the larger area inflicted by sanyasi
Vidroh against east india company, Bihar and North Bengal are
Historically and anthropologically linked with entire tribal zones in
eastern India. Indigo Revolt completed the circle. But the so called
Nabjagaran by Bengali Brahmins wiped out all the historical evidences.
Not only that they dared to dismiss Bankim and his Anand
Math. The uprisings of the Chuars in 1799 in the districts
of Manbum, Bankura and Midnapore which took and alarming turn were
master minded by the Rani of Midnapore. The Rani was taken prisoner on
April 6, 1799 which only made the Chuars more furious. Equally
important in the annals of India’s struggle for freedom is the
rebellion of the Santhals (1855) occupying Rajmahal Hills against the
British Government who in league –with the mahajans or money lenders
oppressed the industrious people, there being even cases of
molestation of women. Under the leadership of two brothers, Sidhu and
Kanhu, ten thousand Santhals met in June 1855 and declared their
intention to “take possession of the country and set up a government
of their own”. In spite of the ruthless measures of the British
Government to suppress them, the Santhals showed no signs of
submission till February 1856 when their leaders were arrested and
most inhuman barbarities were practiced on the Santhals after they
were defeated.

Meanwhile, The Statesman, UDBODHAN and Anand Bazar Patrika published
some parts of the research works of Kishan Chandra Bhagat. Based on
this, the most reputed institution of Government of India, INTACH
prepared a Project and recieved an international prize from United
States of Ameriaca, violating Copyright law and depriving Mr Bhagat.

Last week, Me and Sabita spent some time with the Bhagat family and
visited all the Relevant places in and around Murshidabad and Lalgola.
Then, we visited all the places historically relevant to the History
of Gaur. to make the tour full circle we visisted larger areas in
birbhoom also.

We were stunned to see the SICKLE BHARAT MATA temple being so
marginalised and neglected. The Lalgola Palace has been trasformed
into an Open Air Correction home. The site is under INTACH. But Intach
has done nothing to save the legacy of Vande Mataram, without which
India`s Struggle for Freedom would seem quite lifeless. Not only
Bankim, but Swami Vivekanad and Kazi Nazrul Islam are also associated
with Bharat Mata Temple. But neither Government of India nor
governemnt of West Bengal seem to have cared for it at all. Single
handedly, the National Teacher Mr Bhagat have brought the matter in
limelight which is well recognised by the institutions like OXFORD
University and Sahitya Academy.


It is apparent that there was a cry to “drive out the British” almost
throughout the first century of the British rule in India.

I wrote a story titled, Modified Vandemataram based on a story written
by a shantiniketan based Bengali Intellectual and published in
Anadbazar on the topic whether bankim wrote Vandematarm at all. I
covered and analysed all the follow ups and correspondences.

Doing that I stumbled on a research article written by Kishan Chandra
Bhagat. The Shantiniketan Teacher did not mention Bhagat`s work at all
and posed as if it was his own work. The same thing has been done once
again by INTACH.

Bhagat`s great grand father was a Lathiyal who came from balia, Uttar
Pradesh , hired by the Bhumihar Maharaja of lalgola also rooted in
UP. The Lathiyals was used to amnage the rebels and they had a license
to kill. My Grand fathers in Jassore were also the Lathiyals of the
zamindar. Thus, Bhagat and Me inherit the same legacy which connects
us.
Kishan chandra Bhagat was born and brought up in lalgola . He got his
education in Bengali and writes fluently in bengali with full command.
he may not try his pen in Hindi.
He soon became a Maths teacher in a local school established by the
Lalgola King. Being a maths teacher Bhagat`s research work seems very
systematic and logical besides its linguistics and phonetics. He has
inherited mastery over folks and legends. He began hsi work on Vande
Mataram based on some Legends which he heard from his father Baldev
Bhagat, a saint like personality, well known in Lalgola. he very soon
found himself walking over the murky grassland of Lalgola, searching
for the hidden tunnels leading to forgotten temples and Royal
mansions.
For the last two decades, Mr Bhagat has two obsessions - to discover
the streets, tunnels and buildings mentioned in Anand Math. He worked
round the clock all these years to prove all the well known scholars
wrong who claimed that Bankim Chandra had imagined most of the scenes
in the famous Novel. Anand Math was written while Bankim was a
district Megistrate and was hiding in the Lalgola palace. Some British
Officers had thretened to kill him after he won a case against one of
them and had forced the officer to apologise in public. Raja Yogendra
Narayan was the Eye Witness of the event which took place in
Behrampur. Raja stood by Bankim rock solid. After the case was won,
the Lalgola Maharaja, protected the native Black DM placing him right
into his palace. This was the beginning of VANDE MATARM!
Lalgola (Bengali: লালগোলা) is a small town, community delevelopment
bloc situated near the Bangladesh border in the sub-division of
Lalbagh in the district of Murshidabad, West Bengal. It is situated on
the top of the delta of Ganges.
Lalgola, located 225 km north of Kolkata, is bounded by a number of
big and small lakes, small temples and mosques. This city is famed for
the Lalgola Survey Centre of CIFRI [1] and the Lalgola Open Air
Prison.



In the pre-independence time, this area was an important business hub.
After independence, Lalgola lost its glory and importance mainly due
to being border town.[citation needed] The place still is a commercial
center - wheat, jute and legumes being the main trading items.



Lalgola is located at 24°25′N 88°15′E / 24.42, 88.25[1]. It has an
average elevation of 23 m (75 ft). It is situated almost on the bank
of river Padma, and thus the north and east of the town is bounded by
Bangladesh. Padma is changed name of Ganges after entering into
Bangladesh from India, In this geographical area, river Padma is taken
as International border. It is at the north-eastern end of the
district and is 225 km from Kolkata.

The weather/climate is similar to the rest of Gangetic West Bengal.
Maximum temperature during summer is 45°C and minimum during winter is
8°-10°C. Here, anybody can experience a very good feel of all the six
seasons.Lalgola is located at 24.25° N 88.15° E[1]



In the 2001 census, Lalgola community development bloc had a total
population of 267,563 of which 136,853 were males and 130,710 were
females. Decadal growth for the period 1991-2001 was 29.40% for
Lalgola, against 23.70% in Murshidabad district. Decadal growth in
West Bengal was 17.84%.[2]

Lalgola Bloc had a total scheduled caste population of 28,222 and a
scheduled tribe population of 2,365.[3]


Open air jail
Probably, the most special thing about Lalgola is that, the first
'Open Air Jail', officially – 'Lalgola Open Air Correctional Home',
was founded here in the year 1987. For this purpose Sri Birendra
Narayan Roy, popularly known as Biren Roy, descendants of Lalgola Raj
family and erstwhile king of Lalgola, gifted their residential palace
to the Government. Royal residence made way first for female lunatic
convicts and later, from 1987, the open-air correctional home. Open
Air Correctional Home is a relatively new and revolutionary concept.
Situated over 100 acres of land and mango garden comprising of about
1000 mango trees, this Open Air Jail is a correction home for the
prisoners. Convicts sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 7 years
or more and such of them as have already served 2/3rd of their
sentence and have maintained all along a good jail record are eligible
for transfer to the open jail after thorough screening and personal
interview by a board constituted for such selection. Surprisingly,
inmates get freedom to go out during day time (06:00 hrs to 20:00
hrs). They have their own source of income in the forms of
cultivation, goods shops (given by the Prison Authority), Private
Tuition. They even get quarter for their families.


Just read the news Item!
Restoration begins at home: Jail dept starts new project

Sharmi Adhikary

Kolkata, December 3: Lalgola Correctional Home will be a busy place in
a couple of months.

In an endeavour to instill a sense of usefulness and dignity in
inmates, the West Bengal jail department will be trying out an
altogether unique experiment.


Inmates from different correctional homes in the state will be
trained in the art of conservation and restoration of heritage
buildings and then transferred to Lalgola Correctional Home for the
final work — which entails the restoration of some of the heritage
structures inside and outside the Home premises.
B D Sharma, Inspector General, Jails, said: “There are a couple of
heritage structures inside as well as outside the premises of the
Lalgola Open Air Correctional Home. We want to restore and conserve
them. But instead of employing professional architects and
conservationists, the inmates will be trained for the work under the
Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).”

Lalgola is a correctional home without any defined boundaries. Inmates
are transferred there after serving part of their term in other
homes.

“The inmates are free to roam around or do some work. In fact, there
are some who run shops or pull rickshaws. But they have to stay in the
Home at night. We are going to train some inmates who have been masons
earlier. After the training is over they will be transferred to
Lalgola,” said Sharma.

G M Kapur, Convenor, INTACH, said: “We have already identified and
checked the structures to be restored. Our architects are also
empanelled with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. After the costs are
sorted, out training of the inmates will begin and we will start work
shortly.”

When the inmates will see the restored structures they will feel
dignified and useful and put the training to good use after being
released. “That is going to be our reward,” said Sharma.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=211905



And this!



Press Releases
U.S. AWARDS GRANT FOR RENOVATION OF HISTORICAL SITES AT THE LALGOLA
CORRECTIONAL HOME IN WEST BENGAL
January 30, 2008

KOLKATA -- The U.S. Consul General in Kolkata Henry V. Jardine today
handed over a check of Rs. 2,775, 000 ($63,000 approximately) to West
Bengal State Convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and
Cultural Heritage (INTACH) G. M. Kapur at the American Center in
Kolkata. This grant, awarded through the Ambassador's Fund for
Cultural Preservation, will go towards the renovation of the historic
Lalgola site in Murshidabad district in West Bengal.

The proposal to restore the historical structures at the Lalgola
Correctional Home in Murshidabad, submitted with the support of the
American Center in Kolkata by INTACH has competed internationally and
won the award. This was the only proposal to be awarded for India
during the current round of competition, which shows the importance
the U.S. government places on the goals of this particular restoration
project. This award will allow INTACH to not only renovate the
historic structures but also to provide vocational training to inmates
housed at the Lalgola Correctional Home.

The Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation helps countries around
the globe preserve historic sites and manuscripts, museum collections,
and traditional forms of expression such as music, dance, and
language. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administers
the Fund, established by Congress in 2001. To date, the Ambassador's
Fund has supported more than 300 projects worldwide totaling more than
$11 million.

In 2005, The Fund awarded a grant to the East and West Educational
Society of Patna to fund a survey of 25 districts in Bihar to document
Islamic and Hindu 15th and 16th century architecture. The world-
renowned Khuda Baksh Library in Patna has been an important partner in
this project. In 2004, a grant by the Ambassador’s Fund also helped
preserve art, architecture and traditional crafts in Bishnupur in West
Bengal’s Bankura district. This project, also through a proposal
submitted by INTACH, has assisted the Archeological Society of India
in its efforts to preserve the cultural legacy of this important
Bengali historical site. A grant was also awarded in 2002 to the
Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, in Gangtok, to help in the
preservation of rare paintings, scrolls and other art objects. (Please
visit: http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/afcp/.)





U.S. Consulate Organizes Programs To Commemorate American Culture ...
... (INTACH) to renovate historical structures at Lalgola in
Murshidabad and provide vocational training to the inmates of the
Lalgola Correctional Home. ...
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But Julius J. Lipner from Oxford university based his research paper
on the research work, investigations, evidences and sources of Kishan
chandra Bhagat and acknowledged it.

I never knew abut Bhagat and his work. But I quoted him. In response
Mr Bhagat contacted me and I cmae to know his work in deatail.

India’s struggle for freedom had been a long drawnout battle. Though
it actually began in the second half of the 19th century, isolated
attempts were made in various parts of the country to being the
British rule in India to an end about a century earlier. The real
power in northern India passed into the hands of the British in 1757.
The loss of independence provided the motive force for the struggle
for freedom and Indians in different parts of the country began their
efforts to throw off the voke of the alien rulers. It took over 100
years for the struggle to gain full momentum. Very seldom, however,
during this period (1757 to 1857) was the country free from either
civil or military disturbances and there was plenty of opposition,
often from very substantial section of the common people.
Surprisingly enough, the opposition to foreign rule in early years
came more from the peasants, labourers and the weaker sections of the
society that from the educated bourgeois classes. Unscrupulous
defiance of moral principle and the reckless exploitation of the
masses that characterized the early activities of the traders made the
rule of the East India Company hateful to the people. The
proselytizing activities of the Christian missionaries were greatly
resented all around. The deliberate destruction of Indian manufacturer
and handicrafts aggravated agrarian misery and economic discontent.
All these factors led to local resistance in different parts of this
vast country which was basically united in its opposition to the
British rule.

Meanwhile the Indian National Congress founded in 1883 by Allan
Octavian Hume (1829-1912) and others with the blessings of the then
Viceroy Lord Dufferin was continuing its agitation on constitutional
lines. However its critics regarded its policy as ‘Mendicant’, and a
new wave of nationalism was sweeping over Bengal and Maharashtra. Its
pioneer in Bengal was Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1835-1894) the
renowned author of Vande Mataram (Hail Mother) hymn. In Maharashtra
the message of nationalism was preached by Bal Gangadhar Tilak whose
political views were extremist. In the Punjab Lajpat Rai (1865-1928)
and in Bengal, Bepin Chandra Pal (1858-1932) criticized the Congress,
as its propaganda was confined to a few English educated classes.
Swaraj (independence), Swadeshi (use of home-made goods) and boycott
became the battle cry of these extremists. The climax was reached when
Bangal was partitioned in 1905. The development of terrorism was a
notable feature of this movement. Though the objective of the
adherents of this movement was the same as that of the Indian National
Congress, yet they differed in the methods to be adopted to achieve
the goal. These revolutionaries had no faith in the constitutional
means followed by the Congress, and had no hesitation to use arms.
Their belief in the efficacy of the cult of violence was fortified by
studies of the methods adopted by freedom fighters in the West. It was
also accentuated by the severe measures of repression taken by the
Government to crush the unarmed people’s aspirations for freedom.
» Was Vande Matram Written By Bankim at All, Anothe- Palash
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Rajshahi Raj occupied a predominant position among the territorial
magnates of Bengal in the 18th century. It was the second largest
zamindari with an area of about 33,670 sq km. The zamindari came into
being during the early part of the 18th century. at that time Nawab
murshid quli khan was the diwan/ subahdar of Bengal (1704-1727). A man
of strict principle, he maintained rigorous discipline in every aspect
of his administration. Owing to nawab's stern revenue policy as well
as for the zamindars' maladminisstration and their failure to pay the
stipulated revenue dues in time, many old zamindars lost their
zamindaries. Besides, many zamindars lost their zamindari on account
of their disobedience and rebellion. Murshid Quli Khan settled these
zamindaries with his trusted followers and cronies. In this process of
replacement the most fortunate beneficiary was the Rajshahi zamindari
(also called natore raj). The family also benefited by another feature
of nawab's revenue policy of encouragement to the formation of big
zamindaries.





The Rajshahi Raj family traced its origin to one Kamdev Rai, a
tahsildar of Baraihati in Pargana Lashkarpur, under puthia raj family.
Kamdev had three sons Ramjivan, Raghunandan and Bishnuram. Of the
three brothers, Raghunandan was the most promising and enterprising.
Darpanarain, the zamindar of Puthia, and Murshid Quli Khan had
significant contributions behind Raghunandan's rise to prominence.

Darpanarain appointed Raghunandan his wakil at Jahangirnagar (Dhaka),
the capital of Bengal. Raghunandan sided with Murshid Quli Khan in his
entanglement with the Subahdar azim-us-shan and thus won the
confidence of the former. Again, when the diwani was transferred to
Murshidabad, he was appointed in a similar capacity as his master's
representative there. Raghunandan, a man of parts, soon caught the
attention of the Sadar Qanungo at Murshidabad, who appointed him
deputy or naib qanngo for his sound knowledge in finance and law.
During this time he came in close contact of Diwan Murshid Quli Khan
and secured his great trust and confidence.

As a confidant of Murshid Quli Khan, Raghunandan secured a portion of
the Rajshahi zamindari in 1706, in the name of his brother Ramjivan.
Banugachi was added to the family as its former zamindar had
mismanaged his estate and become a regular revenue defaulter. Then
gradually followed the additions of the pargana Bhaturia (1711) and
Niz-Rajshahi (1713). Soon after this the diwan bestowed pargana Naldi
upon Ramjivan. When Sitaram, the zamindar of bhusna, revolted against
the diwan's authority and oppressed smaller zamindars and stopped
paying revenues to the treasury, Murshid Quli Khan sent a strong force
against Sitaram and suppressed his rebellion. In this campaign against
Sitaram, Ramjivan, the founder of Natore Raj and his diwan Dayaram
cooperated. As a reward for their services Murshid Quli granted
Ramjivan the whole of Bhusna together with pargana Ibrahimpur in 1714.
In fact, the rise of the Natore family was established with the
dismemberment of Sitaram's estate.

After the subjugation of the refractory Afghan chiefs the nawab
settled Tanki Sarubpur with his favourite Ramjivan (1718). Ramjivan by
this time earned nawab's confidence by his efficient management and
punctual payment of revenues. Thus, by these successive additions, the
vast Rajshahi zamindari was built up during the lifetime of its
founders. It became the second largest zamindari of Bengal after
Burdwan. Tradition called it an estate of 52 lakh of rupees.

Although Raghnandan at Murshidabad was the founder of the Rajshahi
zamindari, but its successful consolidation and management was largely
due to his elder brother Ramjivan and his diwan Dayaram, a first rate
man of business. Raghunandan died in 1724 without leaving any heir.
His death was followed by that of Ramjivan in 1730. Before his death,
Ramjivan had adopted Ramkanta as his son and successor. In 1730
Ramkanta inherited the entire zamindari of Rajshahi at the age of 18.
Thoroughly inexperienced in zamindari administration, he, neglecting
the zamindari affairs, passed most of his time in religious
activities. Fortunately, rani bhabani, his wife and a lady of great
foresight, sagacity and intelligence, efficiently managed the
zamindari with the help of trusted diwan Dayaram.

Ramkanta died in 1748, leaving his wife and only daughter Tara. But
before his death he allowed the Rani to adopt Ramkrishna. Thus the
Rani, a lady of enormous virtues and capacity, as the real zamindar of
Rajshahi managed it quite efficiently and increased its revenues
substantially. She maintained cordial relations with the nawabs of
Murshidabad. When the east india company was granted the diwani
administration of Bengal in 1765, they found the zamindari of Rajshahi
in peaceful and prosperous conditions and as such did not disturb her,
and kept her in the possession of her zamindari. The Rani upheld the
dignity and prestige of the zamindari by her social activities.

Only a dozen large zamindars controlled half of the total landed
property of Bengal while the colonial state was forming in the last
decades of the eighteenth century. The colonial state viewed these
princely zamindaris as potential threats to the security of the new
state, because their wealth and influence were so great that they
could at any opportune moment combine and put the colonial state in
great jeopardy. Hence it became a policy of the government to weaken
these estates, if not destroy them altogether. One of the strategies
to implement this design was the ruthless operation of the sunset law.

In 1788, in her old age, Rani Bhavani transferred the zamindari to her
adopted son Raja Ramkrishna, then forty years old. In 1791, the
Decennial Settlement was concluded with him at a jama of Rs 22,52,200.
Since the decennial settlement, the Rajshahi zamindari suffered from
three pernicious problems: over assessment, mismanagement and the
intrigues of amla (officers). The dismemberment of the zamindari
started immediately after the decennial engagement. Before the dawn of
the next century, the entire zamindari had been transferred to fresh
hands except some few parganas the total revenue demand on which
hardly exceeded Rs 34000 in 1800.

As the resources of the zamindari had never been investigated
minutely, it is difficult to state categorically whether or not the
zamindari was properly assessed. The original decennial assessment
exclusive of all deductions on different accounts was S Rs 20,27,200.
To this sum was added a rasad (increase) of S Rs 2,25,000. Hence the
permanet assessment of the zamindari was fixed at S Rs 22,52,200. The
average annual collection of the estate from 1778-79 to 1788-89
amounted to S Rs 21,24,400. The gap between the known revenue yield
and the assessment was further widened by the withdrawal without
compensation of the customary allowance of batta on the payment in
sicca currency. The raja had derived an annual income of about one
lakh of rupees on account of batta and there had never been any hint
in the decennial agreement that it would subsequently be resumed
without compensation. Thus if to the gap between past revenue yield
and the 1791 assessment is added the loss of the batta alowance, the
raja may be seen to have been overburdened by the decennial settlement
by about two lakhs of rupees a year.

Raja Ramkrishna at first refused to accept the settlement and
persisted in throwing every obstacle and impediment in the way of the
execution of the settlement. But ultimately he acceded to it with a
note of protest. He wrote to the Council that he accepted the
settlement only to avoid further displeasure from the government.

In these circumstances it was not surprising to find that Raja
Ramkrishna lost two of his big parganas bearing jama of about one lakh
and fifty thousand rupees within a year after his decennial
engagement. This, however, did not relieve him from further distress.
Every year arrears were accumulating. In July 1795, his outstanding
arrears amounted to S Rs 5,39,054. Stating his difficulties, the raja
wrote to the Council for abatement of the oversassessment and make
remission of the consequent arrears. But his appeals were consistently
turned down.

The repeated representations of Ramkrishna ventilating his
difficulties in paying public revenue and his chronic arrears, led to
a full-scale discussion in the Council about the affairs of his
zamindari and opinions of the collector and from the Board of Revenue
were sought. The Collector, giving his report in favour of the raja
said that his zamindari was overrated by at least half the amount of
rasad imposed on him. But the Council was not prepared to scale down
the government demand. The raja's incompetence was blamed for arrears.
In fact, the government was determined to dismember the large
zamindari into numerous and easily manageable smaller estates. The
Government's failure to collect the substantial amount of its demands
in spite of the use of all administrative machinery at its disposal
makes it abundantly clear that the resources of the zamindari were
unequal to assessment.

The last phase of the zamidari was most tragic. In April 1798, Raja
Biswanath attained his majority and took over the management of the
zamindari. Soon he fell in huge arrears for which mahal after mahal
were sold for recovering public revenue. By 1800, the great Rajshahi
raj was reduced to insignificance. Utter poverty descended on the
family. In consideration of his past rank and status and present
indigence, the Government granted him an allowance of eight hundred
rupees per month in 1805. A zamindari which was the second largest in
Bengal, just next to the Burdwan raj, in 1790 became almost extinct
within the next ten years.

It was the overassessment which made the zamindari helpless. The raja
stood little chance of getting rid of debt balances and consequently
sale of his lands continued. But over assessment was certainly not the
whole truth behind the dissolution of the zamindari. The raja's own
character was also a significant contributory factor. As a believer in
the Vaisnava cult, Raja Ramkrishna was always engrossed in spiritual
meditation oblivious of zamindari affairs. He used whatever leisure he
managed to have after meditation and other religious duties in
composing popular vaisnava songs which earned him the title 'Raja-
saint' of Bengal.

Ramkrishna's utter indifference towards the zamindari management made
him absolutely dependent on his amla who gradually became so powerful
that the raja lost control over them. The members of the zamindari
bureaucracy in league conspired to fatten themselves at the expense of
their master.

Raja Biswanath, however, tried to save some parts of his zamindari
through benami purchases. Thus he bought pargana Naldi and Santore,
which bore a combined jama of about one lakh rupees, in the names of
his peons; but ultimately some of these had to be disposed of in order
to clear off debts. His grandmother, Rani Bhavani, purchased Huda
Hurer Para, Tarraf Dakhin Jowar and Huda Barnagar in Murshidabad
district in her own name. Their combined jama stood at S Rs 33,706.
These benami purchases, together with the purchases of Rani Bhavani,
saved this historic family from total extinction. In 1819, the sadar
jama of the zamindari on all accounts amounted to Rs 88,006.

The Rajshahi Raj witnessed its rise almost throughout the eighteenth
century, but its decline started even before the century ran out. It
somehow maintained its precarious existence during the next century.
The zamindari was ultimately abolished under the east bengal state
acquisition and tenancy act, 1950. [ABM Mahmood and Sirajul Islam]



‘Icon and Mother’: An Inquiry into India’s National Song1
Julius J. Lipner
http://jhs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/1/1-2/26
The Republic of India, which is constitutionally a ‘secular’ state,
has a National Song and a National Anthem. Each has its official and
other uses. The verses that became the National Song have been dogged
by religious and political controversy, sometimes turning to violence,
from pre-Independence days. These verses first appeared as part of a
larger hymn in Anandamath, a Bengali religio–political novel by the
famous novelist, Bankim Chatterji, first published serially in 1881–2,
and then as a book from 1882. The hymn is entitled ‘Vande Mataram’,
viz. ‘I revere the Mother’, and glorifies the ‘motherland’ of a band
of ascetic warriors, called ‘santans’ or ‘Children’, who live in the
heart of a dense forest somewhere in Bengal and emerge periodically to
make war against foreign (Muslim and British) rule. As the hymn
clearly indicates, the santans are children not only of the motherland
but also of the Goddess, who is identified with the motherland.
However, the National Song, which comprises only the first two verses
of the hymn, makes no mention of the Goddess. This has not prevented
various Indian voices through the decades from objecting strenuously
to the religious, ‘idolatrous’, and ‘xenophobic’ resonances of a
National Song that allegedly belies the secular status of the state.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the title of the hymn/
National Song, viz. Vande Mataram, played a significant role, as
watchword and rallying-cry, in India’s largely (Hindu) freedom
movement, as also in communal strife between Hindus and Muslims from
the first decades of the twentieth century. Using a recent resurgence
of the controversy as a starting point, this article discusses the
content of the hymn in its original setting, reviews the history of
and reasons for the ongoing controversy about the National Song, and
offers a suggestion as to how fundamental religio–political objections
to it may be resolved.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
India, which prides itself on being a ‘secular’ polity
constitutionally, is in the extraordinary position of having both a
National Anthem and a National Song. This is not the place to analyse
the precise meaning of ‘secular’ with respect to the Indian
Constitution. Much ink has flowed to this end. Suffice it to say that
here this word is used not in the sense of ‘anti-religiousness’ but in
the sense of not granting privileged status to any particular religion
in the eyes of the Constitution. In other words, from the point of
view of the Indian Constitution where matters of national or state
policy are concerned, there should be no majoritarian or other bias
towards the privileging of a particular religious faith.2
The title-words of the National Song are Vande Mtaram.3 One
translation of this Sanskrit expression would be, ‘I revere the
Mother’, from vande, the first person singular, present indicative of
the verb vand, ‘to praise, revere, worship, salute, pay homage to’,
and mt, ‘mother’. The meaning of both terms has proved controversial,
and we shall return to this point. As we shall see, there are nine
verses in all to the song or hymn with the title-words, Vande Mtaram,
but the Indian National Song comprises only the first two stanzas of
this hymn.

The national daily, The Indian Express, carried an article in its New
Delhi edition on 21 August 2006, from which we take the following
extract:

[S]ources told The Indian Express that [Arjun Singh, the Human
Resources Development (HRD)] minister had got a letter, on 2 August
this year, from Culture minister Ambika Soni on the issue of centenary
celebrations of pre-Independence era themes, including Vande Mataram.
Soni explained to Singh that a National Committee for Centenary
Celebrations under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister had been
organising several events in this regard. Vande Mataram, she wrote,
was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1876 and Rabindranath
Tagore recited it for the first time at the Congress session in Bombay
in 1896. Later, in 1905, it became the battle-song in the movement
against Partition of Bengal [under British rule]. It was finally
adopted as the national song at the Varanasi session of the Congress
party on 7 September in 1905.

Having given this brief history,4 Soni wrote the year-long
celebrations had started on 7 September 2005, when the song completed
100 years of adoption as the national song. As a ‘befitting grand
finale’ to the year-long celebration, the Culture minister asked her
HRD counterpart to have the singing of Vande Mataram at 11 a.m. on 7
September in all educational institutions across the country.

The HRD minister, on 8 August this year, wrote to all chief ministers
and heads of Union Territories to have this ‘simultaneous countrywide
singing’ of the first two stanzas of the national song at 11 a.m. on 7
September in all schools, colleges, and other educational
institutions.


In passing, we may point out that this date seems an odd claimant for
centenary celebrations of the National Song, for according to the
reported statement of the Culture Minister herself, the song was
composed in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and was aired
officially in a nationalist context towards the end of that century.
We shall see, further, that it was adopted by the Constituent Assembly
of an independent India under the chairmanship of Rajendra Prasad
(India’s first President) only on 24 January 1950. None of these major
landmarks coincides with a centenary celebration in 2006!5

The HRD ministry’s directive caused uproar throughout the land. This
agitation occurred at several levels: religious, political, community,
and state. There was strong Muslim representation that the song was
idolatrous, anti-Muslim, and anti-secular. Here Sunnis and Shiites
were as one.6 Even Sikhs objected on an official level to the
directive.

[T]he Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) ... asked the
Sikh community not to sing the national song on 7 September. In a
statement issued [in Amritsar], SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar, while
making an appeal to all community members not to sing the national
song, said it only propagates a particular religion and does not
fulfil aspirations of minorities, including Sikhs, Muslims and
Christians. ‘It’s a conspiracy to spread communalism in the nation’,
said Makkar.7

The national response to the directive was a classic fudge. Some
states of the Union, largely those under the influence of the
opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, identified with the right wing
politically) professed to follow the directive; some states left their
educational institutions free to make up their own minds. Some Muslim-
run institutions sang the National Song, others refused to comply with
the directive. In many cases, local Muslim authorities advised Muslim
parents to keep their children away from school for the occasion. In
general, some schools, aware of the reasons for the controversy,
decided to have the hymn sung during morning assembly as part of the
daily routine; in other institutions, the hymn was sung as a special
event at 11 a.m. as recommended by the directive. Indeed, almost
immediately after promulgating the directive, the HRD ministry itself
issued a clarification stating that this was not intended to be
compulsory (to the chagrin of the BJP), and it is interesting to note
that on the appointed day, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, President of the
Congress party (the chief party of the coalition forming the central
government), absented herself from an official function where Vande
Mtaram was to be sung; she sent a representative.

The point is that religious and political controversy over Vande
Mtaram and its status as National Song has been a running issue for
nearly a century. The agitation Arjun Singh’s directive engendered
(not to mention Mrs. Gandhi’s politic response to a political hot
potato) is but an index of a seemingly intractable problem India has
had to contend with more and more urgently since becoming an
independent ‘secular’ multi-faith democracy in 1947. This situation
cannot continue; it is a serious bone of contention in the body
politic. Sooner or later a decision about the status of Vande Mtaram
will have to be taken with an eye to the future. The purpose of this
essay is to look into the formative literary and political history of
Vande Mtaram; to examine Vande Mtaram’s text and context; and to
assess various objections made against it as to both content and
status as National Song. This task will be facilitated by referring
from time to time to the broader work I have undertaken on the topic
in my book, nandamah, or The Sacred Brotherhood by Bankimcandra
Chatterji (abbr.:ASB).8

As the previous sentence suggests, the hymn Vande Mtaram was given
public currency through the Bengali novel entitled nandamah (which I
have translated as The Sacred Brotherhood) written by Bankimcandra
Cattopadhyay (anglicised as ‘Chatterji’; 1838–94). The novel was first
published serially in Bagadaran, the literary journal in Bengali that
Bankim edited, from March 1881 to June 1882. Thereafter, with some
important revisions, the novel underwent five editions in book-form,
the last of which we may call the standard version since it is this
edition that appears in the various anthologies of Bankim’s works
including the anthology published under the aegis of the Bangiya
Sahitya Parisat (The Bengal Literary Society) to mark the centenary of
Bankim’s birth.9 The standard edition appeared in November 1892.

The novel itself is set in the early 1770s, during the so-called
sannys (or ‘renouncer’) rebellion as it occurred in the Birbhum
district of greater Bengal, and the great famine in the region at the
time. These two events provided the raw data of the narrative which
Bankim then refined, and also re-defined, for his purposes. Thus,
while the original ‘renouncers’ comprised itinerant bands of ganja-
smoking Hindu and Muslim sannyss and fakirs, often numbering
thousands, who travelled at certain periods of the year (many
accompanied by their women and children) on pilgrimage routes,
exacting tolls and provisions from the villages they passed, the inner
core of sannyss of Bankim’s story are all cultured, upper-caste Hindus
(mostly Brahmins) sworn to a vow of temporary celibacy. The original
sannyss were for the most part a rabble, of considerable nuisance
value because of their importunate practices, not only to the British
who had the (lucrative) task of collecting the revenue for the
regional Muslim rulers and imposing order for this purpose, but also
to the local villagers whose livelihood in cash and kind was
imperilled by the predatory behaviour of the renouncers. This
compelled the British to try and disband the renouncers on a permanent
basis, which led to running battles between the two sides for several
years (the so-called sannys-rebellion), till eventually – by the turn
of the century – the British won through. The situation in the early
1770s, however, was exacerbated by a terrible famine that gripped much
of the middle regions of the Bengal of the time.

Bankim converts the deprivation and general lawlessness of these
circumstances to the backdrop of his novel. Bengal is now contested
land: there is no clear ruling authority. The titular Muslim rulers
have gone to seed and are uninterested in enforcing the requisite
order for the welfare of all their subjects, both Hindu and Muslim;
they are reliant on the British to whom they have given the task of
collecting revenue on their behalf. The British, who perforce have
negotiated very generous terms, are interested only in their dues, and
not in administering the land. Historically, these are no more than
half-truths, if that, but for Bankim’s purposes the scene is set for
his sannyss to play their parts.

These renouncers are called santns or ‘Children’, and they take up
residence in an abandoned monastery in the heart of a dense jungle.
They are Children of the Mother whom they worship, the focus of which
are three images of the Goddess enshrined in the monastery: the
Goddess-as-she-was, the Goddess-as-she-is (identified with an image of
Kl), and the glorious Goddess-as-she-will-be. But it is significant
that the Goddess-as-she-was is described as ‘the motherland in the
form of the nurturing Goddess’ (jagaddhtrrpi mtbhmi). So the matter is
complicated. Bankim has iconised the land. The santns are Children of
the Goddess as also of the motherland, and the motherland is an
embodiment of the Goddess in some way. Not only has Bankim iconised
the land, but through the distinctive form of the Goddess he has also
‘Hinduised’ it in some integral sense. This is clear from a
description of the Mother-as-she-will-be: ‘Her ten arms reach out in
ten directions, adorned with various powers in the form of the
different weapons she holds, the enemy crushed at her feet, while the
mighty lion who has taken refuge there is engaged in destroying the
foe ... [the Goddess] roams on the lordly lion’s back, [and] has
Lakshmi personifying good fortune on her right, and the Goddess of
speech who bestows wisdom and learning on her left, with Kartikeya
signifying strength and Ganesh good success, in attendance!’ – a
description uncannily reminiscent of Goddess Durg in one of her
favoured representations.10 It would be as well to mark this here
especially in the context of charges asserting the ‘communal’ and
idolatrous nature of the novel and its Song.

The santns emerge periodically from their forest-retreat to attack
those whom they regard as unacceptable representatives of failing
ruling authority: the armies of the Muslim rulers and their British
allies. Their aim is to free the motherland of these alien forces;11
in this they eventually succeed temporarily . Of course, there are a
number of sub-plots – and battles, transgressions of various kinds,
and episodes of requited and unrequited love described on the way. We
must leave these for the reader to discover. But it is at this point
in our essay that we need to make a more detailed acquaintance of
Vande Mtaram.

The santns take recourse to a hymn that first appears in chapter 10 of
Part I; this paean sums up their patriotic ardour to the nurturing
motherland whose Children they are and which they seek to set free.
Its opening words are ‘vande mtaram’, but it is also important to note
that in the novel this expression is used as a slogan in its own
right, sometimes as a password to the santns’ secret brotherhood and
sometimes as a rallying-cry in battle. We shall return to this in due
course. But here is the hymn in full in the English translation I have
given it. The Children have just successfully carried out a raid on a
cartload of money which the British have raised as revenue, and which
is on its way to the British headquarters in Calcutta, and have
rescued a wealthy landowner whose name is Mahendra. One of the
commanders of the successful raiding party is called Bhabananda. It
will be helpful to give the context of the first appearance of the
hymn in full:


‘[Mahendra and Bhabananda] walked silently across the plain in that
moonlit night. Mahendra was silent, anguished, unbending, and somewhat
intrigued. Suddenly, Bhabananda seemed to become a different person.
No longer was he the grave, calm renouncer, the skilled, valiant
figure of the battlefield, the man who had cut off the head of a
[British] commanding officer! No longer the man who had just rebuked
Mahendra so haughtily. It was as if seeing the radiance of plain and
forest, mountain and river of a peaceful, moonlit world had
invigorated his mind in a special way, like the ocean gladdened by the
rising moon. He was now light-hearted, talkative, friendly, keen to
make a conversation. He tried often to get Mahendra to talk, but
Mahendra remained silent. Then, with no other recourse, Bhabananda
began to sing softly to himself:

I revere the Mother! The Mother
Rich in waters, rich in fruit,

Cooled by the southern airs,

Verdant with the harvest fair ...


Mahendra was a little astonished when he heard this song, and was at a
loss to understand. Who was this mother "rich in waters, rich in
fruit, cooled by the southern airs, verdant with the harvest fair"?

"Who is this mother?" he asked Bhabananda.

Without answering Bhabananda began to sing:

The Mother – with nights that thrill
in the light of the moon,

Radiant with foliage and flowers in bloom,

Smiling sweetly, speaking gently,

Giving joy and gifts in plenty.


Mahendra cried, "But that’s our land, not a mother!"

Bhabananda replied, "We recognise no other mother. ‘One’s mother and
birthland are greater than heaven itself’. But we say that our
birthland is our mother. We’ve no mothers, fathers, brothers, friends,
wives, children, houses or homes. All we have is she who is rich in
waters, rich in fruit, cooled by the southern airs, verdant with the
harvest fair ...".

"Then sing on", said Mahendra, understanding at last.

And Bhabananda sang once more:12

(1) I revere the Mother! The Mother
Rich in waters, rich in fruit,

Cooled by the southern airs,

Verdant with the harvest fair.


(2) The Mother – with nights that thrill
in the light of the moon,

Radiant with foliage and flowers in bloom,

Smiling sweetly, speaking gently,

Giving joy and gifts in plenty.


(3) Powerless? How so, Mother,
With the strength of voices fell,

Seventy millions in their swell!

And with sharpened swords

By twice as many hands upheld!


(4) To the Mother I bow low,
To her who wields so great a force,

To her who saves,

And drives away the hostile hordes!


(5) You our wisdom, you our law,
You our heart, you our core,

In our bodies the living force is thine!


(6) Mother, you’re our strength of arm,
And in our hearts the loving balm,

Yours the form we shape in every shrine!


(7) For you are Durga, bearer of the tenfold power,
And wealth’s Goddess, dallying on the lotus-flower,

You are Speech, to you I bow,

To us wisdom you endow.


(8) I bow to the Goddess Fair,
Rich in waters, rich in fruit,

To the Mother,

Spotless – and beyond compare!


(9) I revere the Mother! the Mother
Darkly green and also true,

Richly dressed, of joyous face,

This ever-plenteous land of grace.’


The translation follows the order of stanzas as given in the original;
the reader will notice that there are nine stanzas in all (which I
have numbered for ready reference). In any case, no one disputes the
arrangement of the first two stanzas. The hymn is composed in a
mixture of Bengali and Sanskrit (i.e. some lines are in Sanskrit and
some in Bengali). The first two stanzas are in Sanskrit, the third has
both Sanskrit and Bengali, the fourth is in Sanskrit, the fifth is in
both Bengali and Sanskrit, the sixth is entirely in Bengali, and the
last three verses are all in Sanskrit.

Why this peculiarly admixed composition? Let us start with Sanskrit.
There seems to be little doubt that Bankim had a version of the hymn
in preparation before the writing of the narrative in which the
completed hymn (modified slightly for subsequent editions of the
novel) was inserted.13 In elite Hindu literary tradition, of which
Bankim was widely knowledgeable, Sanskrit has always been the dominant
language, and its compositional forms provided (and in important
respects continue to provide) paradigms for literary creativity. This
was specially so, for a particular reason, at the time when Bankim was
writing. In the eyes of the-then Bengali intelligentsia, Sanskrit
afforded a link of continuity, culturally and religiously, with the
ancestral tradition of the majority. As such, the judicious
application of Sanskrit was a psychological marker of cultural
ballast, of legitimising authority for what was being said through the
use of the language, and of a sense of Hindu national identity.14
Further, as will be evident, Vande Mtaram is a hymn with clear
religious overtones; it is a hymn of praise to a ‘deity’, a ‘mothering
icon’ (exactly to whom or what we shall see), in the manner of a
stotra.15 It was therefore appropriate to evoke a Sanskrit paradigm
for this purpose. Its Sanskritic form and content lent it gravitas; it
was to be taken seriously.

But Bankim was too good an exponent of the narratival arts to leave it
at that. The hymn needed to have an emotional grip on its reader, and
this was accomplished in particular by the sense and sensibilities of
the Bengali. Thus the staccato effect of the Bengali in the first two
lines of verse 5, or the direct and familiar form of address in verse
6 (through the use of m and tomr for ‘mother’ and ‘your’,
respectively) galvanises the Bengali reader – notwithstanding the
individual commitment evoked by the first person singular of vande –
to a sense of devotional solidarity. Bengali was the vernacular in
which the narrative was written, and by thus vernacularising the
Sanskrit of the hymn, Bankim achieves the best of both worlds – the
authority of tradition and the enveloping freshness of current speech.
16

Now to a consideration of the hymn’s content. Here we can only raise
specific issues, but let us start with a core concern, viz. the mode
and object of worship of this stotra. To drive the point home, let us
quote some objections:

Advising the Union Government to form a committee of Sanskrit scholars
and intellectuals who can decide the actual meaning of Vande, [Maulana
Kalbe] Sadiq [Vice-President of the All-India Muslim Personal Law
Board] said if it meant salute or salaam to the nation, he is ready to
sing it .... ‘We do not even worship Mecca, Medina or Kaba, then how
can one force us to worship the motherland?’ asked Sadiq.17 ‘We cannot
compromise on Kalma-e-Tayyaba, the basic pillar of Islam where we are
committed to one God and Mohammed is our Prophet’, said Moulana Mufti
Mohammed Hasnuddin, a religious scholar. The main objection of Muslims
to singing Vande Mataram is based in this belief as the song treats
even land and natural resources as God which is ‘Shirk’ or un-Islamic
to the Muslims.18

Christian theologians have spoken of two kinds of worship,
distinguished by the Greek terms latria and dulia. Though the original
context is Christian theological discourse, the distinction itself is
universalisable, and will stand us in good stead in the present
discussion. Latria is the worship – the absolute, unconditional
acknowledgement or submission – due to the Supreme Being or God, the
one, infinite being. So there is only one object of latria. Dulia, on
the other hand, is reverence or homage paid to a finite being regarded
as superior to one or as deserving of respect in some way. Hence we
say ‘Your Worship’ to the mayor, or jokingly or devotionally proclaim
that we ‘worship’ the ground our beloved has walked on, or that we
‘worship’ the image of a great human being or some ancestor.
Accordingly, since the object of dulia is by definition not God or the
Supreme Being, and since dulia implies only veneration or respect, the
objects of dulia can be indefinite in number. To revert now to the
question raised above: what kind of ‘worship’ does the term vande
imply in Vande Mtaram? Is it dulia or latria?

Let us begin with an inquiry into classical Hindu tradition, the basis
of current usage (further, we should not forget that vande mtaram is a
Sanskrit expression). There can be no doubt that the verbal root vand–
has been used regularly in the sense of latria, viz. the worship or
veneration due to God alone. Here are a few illustrative examples. The
Bhgavata Pura (ca. 9th century C.E.), which has played such a central
and influential role in the devotional worship of many Hindu
sampradyas or sectarian traditions, lists the ‘nine marks/
characteristics’ of genuine devotion (iti bhaktir navalaka) to the
Supreme Being (named Viu) as follows: ‘Hearing (the name and the deeds
of the lord; ravaa), singing the praises (of the Lord; krtana),
keeping in mind (the Lord and his deeds/attributes at all times;
smaraa), being at the service (of the Lord; pdasevana), worshipping
(the image of the Lord; arcana), greeting and paying homage (to the
Lord; vandana), offering one’s actions (to the Lord; dsya), having
faith and trust (in the Lord as friend; sakhya), and offering body and
soul (to the Lord; tmanivedana)’.19 Note the presence of vandana (noun
from the root vand-) as one of the nine. This is paying homage to the
Supreme deity.

The great devotional theologian Rmnuja (11th–12th century C.E.), takes
up this idea and affirms it. Thus in his commentary on the Bhagavadgt,
that foundational text of devotion to the one Lord (bhagavn, vara; ca.
1st–3rd century C.E.), under 9.14 which describes worship of the
personal Supreme Being, he glosses as follows in words attributed to
Krishna, the divine being: ‘Those set on Me ... with bodies enraptured
and voices tremulous with emotion ... strive after Me through such
deeds as worshipping my image by acts of reverent greeting, praising
(vandana-stavana-karadi-), and so on ...’. There are countless other
instances of such use of the root vand-. Thus it is clear that without
semantic violence, in Hindu tradition, vand- can be and has been used
in the sense of address or approach to the Supreme Being.
Nevertheless, vand- has often been used from ancient times in the
ordinary sense of greeting or salutation, i.e. of showing respect to a
person or thing that is not the divine being.20 So the matter is
inconclusive from the point of view of traditional usage.

Now we may ask: is there evidence to indicate what Bankim himself may
have meant by the vande of the hymn he inserted into his famous novel?
Let us look into this in pursuit of further clarification. It is at
this point that we shall have to draw in the meaning of ‘Mother’ or mt
(the accusative of which is mtaram), the object of the verb vande.

We have already seen that in Bankim’s description of the ‘Mother-as-
she-will-be’, we have more or less a description of Goddess Durg as
she appears every year during the great autumnal festival in Bengal of
the Durg Pj. It is no coincidence then that verse 7 of the hymn makes
salient reference to Durg by name who is identified with the
‘Mother’ (as well as to the Goddess of wealth and of speech, both
associated with the ‘Mother-as-she-will-be’ in the earlier
description). The point that I am making is that though the first two
stanzas seem to entail a straightforward description of the ‘Mother’
as a nurturing motherland, the matter is certainly not that obvious,
since already from stanza 6 (‘Mother ... Yours the form we shape in
every shrine’) and then into stanza 7, the ‘Mother’ shades into a
personal form of the Goddess as worshipped by Hindus. It is perhaps
then disingenuous to dismiss without further consideration objections
which raise the issue of ‘idolatry’ as permeating the hymn as a whole.
The first two stanzas (=the National Song) are a part of a whole which
does seem legitimately to raise this issue.21

But we must still inquire further as to the precise theological force
of vande and mtaram. Can the author of the novel, who inserted the
hymn into his narrative, provide any clue? Here we turn to a
controversy Bankim entered into between the time the novel was
completed in serial form (mid-1882) and the time it was first
published as a book (end-1882). On 17 September that year, a grandee
of Calcutta, Maharaja Harendra Krishna Deb, held an elaborate rite
(rddh) to commemorate the death of a close relative. A fairly detailed
report appeared in the Calcutta Statesman, and the attendance at this
grand event (during which an image of Krishna, the family deity, was
brought into the hall) by leading English-educated Bengali men in
particular so outraged the religious sensibilities of the Rev. W.
Hastie, principal of the General Assembly’s Institution of that city,
that he wrote a furious letter to The Statesman, decrying the bad
example especially of the male attenders for appearing to countenance
the idolatrous rites and thus misleading their (less-educated)
womenfolk. Hastie wrote arrogantly and rudely of Hindu ‘idol-worship’
which he compared most unfavourably to the enlightened faith of
Christians. Bankim, who was not present at the rite, was one of those
who protested against Hastie’s comments, and he entered into a
controversy about Hindu worship with Hastie through the columns of The
Statesman, first under a pseudonym and finally in his own name. In the
process, he gives an account of his own understanding of what passed
for ‘idol worship’ among his compatriots, and it is in this context
that his views are relevant for our own discussion.

In a long letter, published on 8 October, Bankim wrote as follows:

Modern science has shown what the Hindus always knew that the
phenomena of nature are simply the manifestations of force. They
worship, therefore, Nature as force. Sakti, literally and ordinarily
means force or energy. As destructive energy, force is Kali, hideous
and terrible, because destruction is hideous and terrible. As
constructive energy, force is the bright and resplendent Durga. The
universal soul is also worshipped, but in three distinct aspects ....
I translate them as love, power, and justice. Love creates, power
preserves, and justice dooms. This is the Hindu (idea) of Brahma,
Vishnu, and Siva ....
I now pass on to the worship. Much of the Hindu ritual is mere
mummery ... Idol worship is permitted, is even belauded in the Hindu
scriptures, but it is not enjoined as compulsory .... The orthodox
Brahmin is bound to worship Vishnu and Siva every day, but he is not
bound to worship their images. He may worship their images if he
chooses, but if he does not so choose, the worship of the Invisible is
accepted as sufficient ....

And I must ask the student of Hinduism when he comes to study Hindu
Idolatry, to forget the nonsense about dolls given to children ....
The true explanation consists in the ever true relations of the
subjective Ideal to its objective Reality .... The passionate
yearnings of the heart for the Ideal in beauty, in power, and in
purity, must find an expression in the world of the Real. Hence
proceed all poetry and all art. Exactly in the same way the ideal of
the Divine in man receives a form from him, and the form an image. The
existence of Idols is as justifiable as that of the tragedy of Hamlet
or of that of Prometheus. The religious worship of idols is as
justifiable as the intellectual worship of Hamlet or Prometheus ....

Nor must the student fall into the error of thinking that the image is
ever taken to be the God. The God is always believed, by every
worshipper, to exist apart from the image. The image is simply the
visible and accessible medium through which I choose to send my homage
to the throne of the Invisible and the Inaccessible .... The image is
holy, not because the worshipper believes it to be his god – he
believes in no such thing – but because he has made a contract with
his own heart for the sake of culture and discipline to treat it as
God’s image.


There is much here to decipher, but we are given an insight into what
Bankim thought about the worship of images in the context of Hindu
worship as a whole at the time of the publication of the hymn as part
of the novel. It is clear that Bankim does not repudiate belief in a
transcendent spiritual being (the ‘universal soul ... the Invisible
and Inaccessible’) which is characterised as love, power, and justice
(= ‘Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva’). He also affirms that Hindus worship
Nature as power or force (akti) represented, depending on the
manifestations of this force, by Kl as hideously destructive or Durg
as resplendently creative, and so on. But they do not worship Nature
in its own right; they ‘worship’ Nature as permeated by the universal
soul which is the Ideal of beauty, power, and purity, and which finds
artistic expression in the sacred image. This image is not the divine
universal power. It is separate from it – a human way of representing
the Invisible and Inaccessible Ideal by means of a ‘contract with [the
worshipper’s] heart for the sake of culture and discipline to treat
[the image] as God’s image’.

Thus vande and mtaram, the latter a fusion of land and transcendent
divine Ideal, are, from the standpoint of the author of the novel, not
‘anti-Muslim’ or ‘idolatrous’ in any obvious or traditional sense, for
according to Bankim the ‘image [whether Durg or motherland] is holy,
not because the worshipper believes it to be his god – he believes in
no such thing’, but because it is an expression of a contract he and
his society have made to treat that image, ‘for the sake of culture
and discipline’ (emphasis in original) as God’s image. We are speaking
here of a cultural and personal contract initiated by the worshipper,
and one either opts into this contract or one does not. Nevertheless,
this does emphasise the peculiarly Hindu nature of the arrangement.

Further, there can be no talk here of actual polytheism, since there
is only one Supreme Being which manifests through different
(culturally determined) forms and images. One cannot over-simplify,
then, the theology of the hymn in context. Still, it does seem that in
Bankim’s estimation the hymn has force because it evokes this
contract, and that actual worship of the supreme, ‘invisible’,
‘inaccessible’ transcendent ‘universal soul’ is intended to take place
in and through homage paid to the motherland and various other
representations of the deity. Thus a strong if indirect sense of
‘worship’ does seem to be intended by both Vande and Mtaram by the
author of the novel. And it is important to note that the symbolism of
the song as a whole is unapologetically Hindu.

But of course this does not resolve the problem, chiefly for two
reasons: first, because by an official act, endorsed on countless
political occasions, only the first two stanzas, and not the whole
hymn, became the National Song, and second, because the force of
worship lies not primarily in the words used to carry it out (or even
in the intention of the composer of the words), but in the intention
of the actual user of the words in question. Let us inquire into both
these points.

So far we have looked at the first two stanzas in the context of the
hymn as a whole. In this context vande and mtaram do seem to carry the
connotations of worship as latria, that is, worship in the strong
sense; neither the historical usage of language nor that of the author
of the novel militates against this understanding. But if a special
gloss is put on the first two stanzas as divorced from the rest of the
hymn, does this alter the situation? Let us consider now how the first
two stanzas became the National Song.

To begin with, it must be pointed out that from its earliest
association with the novel, the hymn seems to have had a life of its
own; there is evidence to show that the song, at least in embryonic
form, was composed even before the novel was written. It then seems to
have been completed and inserted into the story.22 Indeed, it was sung
at a public function or two as a hymn in its own right (though
apparently not with political intent) after it appeared in the serial
version of the novel but before the novel had been completed.23 So
there is precedent for saying that the hymn can be detached or at
least dislodged from its narrative context. This makes it easier to
see how the first two stanzas could be further detached from the song
as a whole.

Soon after the publication of the song it attracted the notice of
several writers and critics. It inspired a picture of Mother India by
Harishchandra Haldar which was printed in 1885 in a journal called
Balak. In 1886 Hemchandra Banerji wrote a poem, ‘Rakhi Bandan’,
wherein he included the first two stanzas of Vandemataram.24

Here we must add that in contradistinction to the song Vande Mtaram,
the title-words Vande Mtaram also took on an independent existence. In
the novel itself this expression is used a number of times in this way
– as a password, and as a rallying or battle cry. Thus both the song
and slogan Vande Mtaram ran separately on parallel tracks, associated
with but resorted to independently from the novel. On the one hand the
song, or rather its first two stanzas, began to assume a profile on
the nationalist stage. Rabindranath Tagore, Bengal’s rising star as a
poet towards the end of the nineteenth century, ‘set to music the
first two stanzas of Vande Mataram and sang it in the Congress session
in Calcutta in 1896’.25 On the other hand, the slogan began to have a
political ring of its own: ‘The first enthusiastic plea for the
extensive use of the slogan Vandemataram was made by Yogendranath
Vidyabhushan in his biography of Garibaldi published in 1890’.26

But the pro-active and inexorable politicisation of both song and
slogan took place in connection with the first partition of Bengal in
1905, which was to come into effect in October of that year. Earlier,
on 7 August, thousands of students, who included Muslims, marched on
the Calcutta Town Hall, chanting Bande Mtaram,27 in protest against
the impending partition. This governmental act to split greater Bengal
into two parts on what Bengalis perceived to be sectarian grounds
(with Hindus preponderantly in the west and Muslims preponderantly in
the east), acted as the catalyst for the mass politicisation of song
and slogan among Indians seeking to defy British rule. Rameshcandra
Datta, in his article ‘Chatterji, Bankim Chandra’, in the well-known
11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, writes, ‘During Bankim
Chandra Chatterji’s lifetime the Bande Mataram, though its dangerous
tendency was recognised, was not used as a party war-cry; it was not
raised, for instance, during the Ilbert Bill agitation, nor by the
students who flocked round the court during the trial of Surendra Nath
Banerji in 1883. It has, however, obtained an evil notoriety in the
agitations that followed the [1905] partition of Bengal’ (vol. 6,
1910, pp. 9–10). ‘Dangerous tendency’ and ‘evil notoriety’, that is,
in the eyes of those who sympathised with the machinations of the
British government.

Evidence indicates that in the very early days of these agitations in
defiance of the British and their loyal Indian civil servants, Muslims
did not offer serious objection publicly to either song or slogan. We
have already mentioned the Calcutta protest against the 1905 partition
where people of both communities took part. S. Bhattacharya, in the
book mentioned earlier, gives another example of joint action, this
time in Rajahmundry in the Madras Presidency: ‘The Hindu reported in
February 1907 that a Bala Bharati Samiti was organised and in
Rajahmundry, "students, all wearing Vande Mataram badges, and carrying
aloft beautiful banners glittering with bold letters of Vande Mataram
and Allah-o-Akbar" marched around the town and "here and there the
procession halted to sing the immortal song of Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee’’ ’ (op.cit., p. 55).

It did not take long, however, for both slogan and song to acquire
sectarian resonances and in consequence to incur strong Muslim
objections. This process began to crystallise as early as the first
half of 1907. The swadeshi movement, viz. the favouring of products
manufactured in one’s own land (swadeshi) and the boycotting of
foreign-made goods, had begun in Bengal; because of the rhetoric and
symbolism associated with it, it was soon perceived by Muslim leaders
in eastern Bengal as a Hindu movement, which had the effect of
alienating Muslims. It was alleged that ‘the Hindu Zemindars
[landholders], by closing their hts or bazars to those using or
purchasing foreign goods, were coercing the [Muslims to] join the
Boycott movement and thus helping the yawning of the gulf (sic)
between the Hindus and the Muslims’.28 This was adduced as one of the
reasons underpinning the creation of the All India Muslim League at
the end of 1906 to represent Muslim interests before the British as a
counter-measure to the Indian National Congress which was seen as a
Hindu-orientated organisation. In short, partition exacerbated Hindu-
Muslim rivalries and divisive allegiances.

Serious riots broke out between the two communities in eastern Bengal
in 1907. The English-language militant paper, entitled Bande Mataram,
which had started in August 1906 under Bengali Hindu editorial
control, played a significant role, inadvertently perhaps, both by its
title and its editorials, in Hinduising the post-partition nationalist
movement and alienating Muslims. Its reportage of the riots in
Jamalpur is illustrative of this bias.

Here [in Jamalpur] Muslim rowdies attacked Hindu volunteers who were
destroying foreign-made goods at a fair. Then they went on a rampage,
burning down shops where swadeshi products were sold .... Mobs
attacked landlords’ houses, destroyed debt bonds, and smashed an image
of Durga. This act of desecration outraged Hindus in every part of the
country. Bande Mataram fanned the flames by publishing an etching of
the broken image along with headlines like ‘Hindu Women wait with
Knives in Their Hands/ Rather Death than Dishonour’ .... The cry of
religion in danger and womankind in danger had predictable results.
Bande Mataram’s sub-editor Hemendra Prasad Ghose spoke for hundreds
when he wrote: ‘It makes one’s blood boil to think of it .... Revenge
is the word that escapes one’s lips’.29

At around this time, a controversial Muslim publication, called Lal
Istahar (‘The Red Pamphlet’), did the rounds encouraging Muslims to
have nothing to do with Vande Mtaram.30 The die was thus cast for a
collision course between Hindus and Muslims over use of both slogan
and song during the increasingly fraught times of political turmoil
that lay ahead.

It was in the early 1920s that a fresh head of steam built up over the
issue. In his book, S. K. Das notes that in the Calcutta riots of
1921, Hindu rioters used Vande Mtaram as a provocative watchword
against Muslims, and ‘from this time onwards Vandemataram began to be
used as the war-cry of the Hindu fanatics’ (op.cit., p. 220).31 The
scene was thus set for a resolution to be passed during the 25th
annual session of the All India Muslim League in October 1937
condemning ‘the attitude of the [Indian National] Congress in foisting
Bande Mataram as the national anthem (sic) upon the country as
callous, positively anti-Islamic, idolatrous in its inspiration and
ideas, and definitely subversive of the growth of genuine nationalism
in India. This meeting further calls upon Muslim members of various
legislatures and public bodies in the country not to associate
themselves in any manner with this highly objectionable song’.32
Henceforth, for many Muslims, Vande Mtaram would be eyed with
implacable suspicion.

But while Muslim opposition was hardening, moves were afoot at the
same time on another front to exalt the song, or at least its first
two stanzas. The Congress party was in search of a national anthem,
and various patriotic songs were up for consideration, including Vande
Mtaram. In an article on the modern theme of Mother India, Geeti Sen
writes, ‘In [October] 1937 Nehru wrote to Subhas Chandra Bose,
‘Certainly as suggested by you I shall discuss the Bande Mataram song
with Dr Tagore’. The poet laureate confirmed that the second stanza
describing the goddess enshrined in temples was inimical to Islamic
tenets against the worship of icons. And after considerable debate, in
the wisdom of things as they had changed, Bande Mataram was not chosen
as the national anthem’.33

The reference to the ‘second stanza’ as describing the goddess
enshrined in temples is puzzling. From my enumeration of the verses of
the hymn given earlier, the reader will see that this would include
the first six stanzas – well in excess of half the song! Perhaps the
poet was nodding, or meant something like the first two major sections
of the hymn! In any case, no one else of note, least of all the
principal personalities involved in seeking to identify a national
song at the time, was ambiguous on this matter. All (including Nehru
and Bose) understood the first two stanzas to comprise the first two
verses as enumerated in my translation of the hymn, viz. the
eulogistic description of natural features of the land identified as
Mother.

The relevant committee of the Congress party in the main followed
Tagore’s advice in making its recommendation. It seems that Tagore
came to the conventional view of what the first two stanzas were; in a
letter to Nehru dated 26 October 1937, he wrote:

To me the spirit of tenderness and devotion expressed in [the hymn’s]
first portion, the emphasis it gave to beautiful and beneficent
aspects of our motherland made a special appeal, so much so that I
found no difficulty in dissociating it from the rest of the poem and
from those portions of the book of which it is a part .... I freely
concede that the whole of Bankim’s ‘Vande Mataram’ poem, read together
with its context, is liable to be interpreted in ways that might wound
Moslem susceptibilities, but a national song, though derived from it,
which has spontaneously come to consist only of the first two stanzas
of the original poem, need not remind us every time of the whole of
it, much less of the story with which it was accidentally associated.
It has acquired a separate individuality and an inspiring significance
of its own in which I see nothing to offend any sect or community
(emphasis added).34

In the relevant matter of predilection for the nationalist history and
evocative power of the first two verses of the song, this is perhaps a
case of like writing to like. Both Tagore and Nehru had grown up
acculturated to what we may generically call Hindu beliefs and
practices, irrespective of the humanistic turns of thought their minds
had subsequently acquired. They had an a priori disposition, as it
were, to regard the land as ‘mother’ and to sit lightly to detaching
the first two stanzas from both the rest of the song and the novel.
For Tagore, this was a ‘spontaneous’ act.35 But this could not be said
for those disciplined in a staunchly monotheistic faith with sharply
divergent theological presuppositions, and who were convinced that the
song was idolatrous and that both author and novel had a history that
was implacably anti-Muslim!36

Let us now ask: can Bankim be regarded as having a bias against
Muslims (which allegedly emerged in his work), and is nandamah anti-
Muslim, so as to justify such adverse Muslim opinion where both author
and song were concerned? I have considered this question at some
length in ASB (see esp. pp. 61–70, 102–4); it is a matter of
considerable complexity and resists a simplistic answer. I have
discussed how Bankim tends to distinguish in his writings between, as
he saw it, the Muslim as de (‘home-grown’, viz. locals who converted
to Islam, large numbers of whom spoke Bengali, practised age-old
Bengali ways and lived preponderantly in the eastern part of Bengal)
and the Muslim as jaban or ‘outsider’, whose ancestry was derived from
foreign lands such as Afghanistan, Turkey, or Persia, and who came to
India to loot or rule and refused to integrate with the ways of the
established Hindu majority. There is evidence to show that a
particular angst emerged especially in some of Bankim’s later writings
with regard to the Islamic presence in India of the second category of
Muslim. As for nandamah, anti-Muslim sentiments may well be detected
in the narrative, but these are expressed largely against a degenerate
elite and in the mouths of impassioned characters of the story. The
fact is that as Vande Mtaram embarked on its sectarian career, Muslim
antipathy against song and slogan incorporated bias, not without
reason, against their author.37

After they had completed their deliberations on the status of Vande
Mtaram, Nehru’s Working Committee reported as follows:

Working Committee feel that past associations, with their long record
of suffering for the cause, as well as popular usage, have made the
first two stanzas of this song a living and inseparable part of our
national movement and as such they must command our affection and
respect. There is nothing in these stanzas to which anyone can take
exception. The other stanzas of the song are little known and hardly
ever sung .... [T]he Committee wish to point out that the modern
evolution of the use of the song as part of national life is of
infinitely greater importance than its setting in a historical novel
before the national movement had taken shape. Taking all things into
consideration therefore the Committee recommend that wherever the
Bande Mataram is sung at national gatherings only the first two
stanzas should be sung, with perfect freedom to the organisers to sing
any other song of an unobjectionable character, in addition to, or in
the place of, the Bande Mataram song.38

So here we have the makings of the current official view that has
remained consistent to the present day. The characteristics of this
view are that: (i) the song, especially the first two stanzas, is
steeped in the history of the sacrifices made in the nationalist cause
leading to India’s freedom from foreign rule – this justifies its
preferred status; (ii) the first two stanzas have acquired a ‘separate
individuality’; (iii) as such, the first two stanzas are religiously
unobjectionable; and (iv) all things considered (a concession to the
possibility of legitimate objections being made from a wider
perspective), the singing of the song on nationalist or official
occasions need not be compulsory. And yet it is the national song of a
democratic, ‘secular’ Republic!

Jinnah and the Muslim League were not convinced, and continued to
object strenuously and tendentiously to the song, but to no avail.
Neither side was prepared to compromise or give ground, and we have
seen earlier how finally, on 24 January 1950, the Chair of the
Constituent Assembly, Rajendra Prasad, gave a decision making Vande
Mtaram the National Song. As VMBS points out, this was on the last day
of the Assembly’s last session, and a motion that was ‘not debated
upon or put to the vote, unlike the numerous resolutions debated and
voted upon in the process of making the Constitution of the Republic’,
was accepted (pp. 43–4). As noted before, since then on countless
occasions the first two stanzas of nandamah’s Song have been sung or
chanted under official sanction in a national context that has
remained contentious, and throughout this saga, to the present day,
the matter has been exacerbated by right-wing Hindu organisations
opportunistically vaunting the song and striving to make its singing
compulsory at official functions and occasions. The issue has given no
evidence of going away or subsiding with the passage of time, and it
would be irresponsible to close one’s eyes to this. Indeed, the
promulgation or implementation of directives such as that of the HRD
ministry referred to at the beginning of this essay often leads to
violence on the streets.39

Perhaps the time has come for a national debate to be undertaken by
the leadership on all sides, sanctioned by a responsible government,
in order to resolve the matter. The alternative is a prolongation of a
religio-political issue that remains highly charged and potentially
explosive. With regard to the subject of this essay, this debate could
include, besides the specific matters raised here, such wider issues
as the distinction between a national song and a national anthem, the
purpose of a national song/anthem in a secular, multicultural
democracy, the implications of history in the context of India’s
nationalist movement, and determining the appropriate occasions and
appropriate language(s) for singing a national song/anthem in a nation-
state such as India.

But to return to the immediate crisis, it has been suggested by a
recent participant that an investigatory body of experts be set up to
elicit the true meaning of vande in the context of the National Song.
This suggestion is really a cry for political leadership in the
matter. I noted earlier that the force of worship lies really in the
intention behind the use of the relevant terms, not primarily in the
words themselves. One cannot legislate to determine intentions behind
words. But there is sufficient ambiguity in the meaning of vande so as
to leave room for manoeuvre. It may be used, as we have seen, in the
sense of latria or the worship due to the Supreme Being alone, but it
can also signify ‘worship’ or homage in the weak sense of dulia, in
the sense, that is, of salutations or reverence offered to a non-
divine object. As an immediate measure to defuse the situation (in
preparation for the wider debate), it would be a constructive step if
the Indian government exploited this ambiguity with respect to the
National Song, and issued a clarification to the effect that not only
should its singing be non-obligatory, but also that it would be open
to the utterer of vande to invest this word with the intention
dictated by the utterer’s conscience. This could then be followed
through by individuals and communities as they saw fit. Such a
promulgation would go a long way towards immediately removing the
sting of religious and political contentiousness that has lurked for
so long in India’s National Song.




Vande Mataram

The National Song of India




Vande Mataram ! The National song of India

"Vande maataraM
sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM
SasyashyaamalaaM maataram ||




Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM
pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM ||



Koti koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale
koti koti bhujai.rdhR^itakharakaravaale
abalaa keno maa eto bale
bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM
ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM ||




Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma
tumi hR^idi tumi marma
tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire

Baahute tumi maa shakti
hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti
tomaara i pratimaa gaDi
mandire mandire ||



TvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii
kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii
vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM

Namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM
SujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM ||




ShyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM
DharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM |"








Translation by Shree Aurobindo
Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.

Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.


Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,
To thee I call Mother and Lord!
Though who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove
Back from plain and Sea
And shook herself free.


Thou art wisdom, thou art law,
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath
Though art love divine, the awe
In our hearts that conquers death.
Thine the strength that nervs the arm,
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.
Every image made divine
In our temples is but thine.



Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,
With her hands that strike and her
swords of sheen,
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,
And the Muse a hundred-toned,
Pure and perfect without peer,
Mother lend thine ear,
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
Bright with thy orchard gleems,
Dark of hue O candid-fair

In thy soul, with jewelled hair
And thy glorious smile divine,
Lovilest of all earthly lands,
Showering wealth from well-stored hands!
Mother, mother mine!
Mother sweet, I bow to thee,
Mother great and free!







BHARATMA
Vande Mataram
Bankin Chandra composed the song Vande Mataram in an inspired
moment, Rabindranath sang it by setting a glorious tune to it and it
was left to the genius of Shri Aurobindo to interpret the deeper
meaning of the song out of which India received the philosophy of new
Nationalism.

The English translation of Vande Mataram rendered by Shree Aurobindo,
is considered as official and best as per Bhavan's book, Vande Mataram
by Moni Bagchee (pg. 66).


The inspiration of
Bankimchandra's Anand Math

Historians like Jadunath Sarkar, R.C. Majumdar and literary critics
have generally held that Ananda Math was a product of Bankimchandra’s
imagination. The painstaking research of Kishanchand Bhakat, assistant
teacher of mathematics in the M.N. Academy High School, Lalgola, in
the district of Murshidabad, spanning over two decades seems to have
proved otherwise. Having been District Magistrate of Murshidabad at
one time and later the Divisional Commissioner, I was impelled to
verify the claims. To do so I visited the ruins of the Lalgola Raj
Palace, now West Bengal’s sole open-air jail, and this is what I found
–

The seeds of Bankimchandra’s anti-British sentiments were sown in
Berhampore, the district headquarters of Murshidabad district where he
was posted as a Deputy Magistrate [he was the first Bengali to be
offered a job in the civil service after he graduated with grace marks
in Bengali, his examiner having been none other than Iswarchandra
Vidyasagar who did not give him pass marks!]. It was the 15th of
December 1873 when Bankimchandra was, as usual, crossing the Barrack
Square field opposite the Collectorate in his palanquin while some
Englishmen were playing cricket. Suddenly one Lt. Colonel Duffin
stopped the palanquin with some abusive remarks and insisted that it
should be taken out of the field. When Bankim refused to abandon his
customary route, Duffin apparently forced him to alight from the
palanquin and pushed him violently (as reported in the Amrita Bazar
Patrika of 8.1.1974). Witnesses to the incident included the Raja of
Lalgola Jogindranarain Roy, Durgashankar Bhattacharji of Berhampur,
Judge Bacebridge, Reverend Barlow, Principal Robert Hand and some
others. Furious at the insult, Bankimchandra filed a criminal case
against the Colonel, with the Lalgola Raja, Durgashankar Bhattacharji
and Hand cited as witnesses. Duffin had to get a lawyer from
Krishnagar in Nadia district, as no one in Berhampore was willing to
appear for him, while all the local lawyers had signed vakalatnamas
for Bankimchandra.

On 12th January 1874 the Magistrate, Mr. Winter, summoned Duffin and
had just begun to question him when Judge Bacebridge entered and
requested a few words in his chamber. After a little while they called
in Bankimchandra and Duffin. Apparently they told Bankimchandra that
Duffin had not recognized that Bankim was a Deputy Magistrate and
regretted the incident. They requested Bankimchandra to withdraw the
case. This he was not prepared to do and after much persuasion agreed,
provided Duffin offered a formal apology in open court. Reluctantly,
Duffin agreed. Winter took his chair in the court thereafter and in
his presence, before a packed court, Lt. Col. Duffin offered an
unconditional apology to Bankimchandra. The Amrita Bazar Patrika of
15.1.1874 reports: “It appears that the colonel and the Babu were
perfect strangers to each other and he did not know who he was when he
affronted him. On being informed afterwards of the position of the
Babu, Col. Duffin expressed deep contrition and a desire to apologise.
The apology was made in due form in open court where about a thousand
spectators, native and Europeans, were assembled.”

Almost immediately thereafter we find Bankimchandra taking three
months leave. After this incident there must have been considerable
resentment in the Berhampore Cantonment among the British militia and,
apprehending bodily harm, Rao Jogindranarain Roy took Bankimchandra
away to stay with him in Lalgola.

In Lalgola the Guru of the raja’s family was Pandit Kali Brahma
Bhattacharya who practised tantrik sadhana. Kishanchand Bhakat has
obtained an excerpt of seven slokas from a book in the family of Kali
Brahma Bhattacharya whose rhythm, sense and even some words bear an
uncanny resemblance to Bankim’s song. It is most probable that
Bankimchandra took the first few lines of his immortal “Bande
Mataram” (up to ripudalabarining) from here because in the first
edition of the novel in Banga Darshan (Chaitra 1287, pp. 555-556),
these lines are given within quotation marks and the spelling is most
ungrammatically retained as “matarang”. Bankim faced considerable
criticism on this account from Haraprasad Shastri, Rajkrishna
Muhopadhyay, and others. In the later editions he removed the
quotation marks and changed the spelling to the proper Sanskrit
“mataram”, wiping out all trace of the borrowing.

There is an image of Kali in the Lalgola palace temple that is unique.
Its four hands are bereft of any weapon. The two lower hands are
folded in front (karabadhha), the palm of one covered by that of the
other, just as a prisoner’s hands are shackled. From behind, the image
is shackled to the wall with numerous iron chains. Kali is black, of
terrifying mien, naked, a serpent between her feet, and Shiva a supine
corpse before her. This represented to Bankim what Bhaarat, the
Mother, had become:

“The Brahmacharin said,
‘Look on the Mother as she now is.’
Mohendra said in fear, ‘It is Kali.’

‘Yes, Kali enveloped in darkness, full of blackness and gloom. She is
stripped of all, therefore naked. Today the whole country is a burial
ground, therefore is the Mother garlanded with skulls. Her own God she
tramples under her feet. Alas my Mother!’” (Sri Aurobindo’s
translation, 1909).

It is extremely significant that on either side of this unusual Kali
we find Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Kartik and Ganesh, who are never
represented with this goddess. It is in this Kali that Bankim
envisioned Mother as she will be and that is why he wrote, “tvam hi
durga dashapraharana dharini, Thou, indeed, art Durga, ten-armed,
weapon-wielding”. It is this temple that is the source of
Bankimchandra’s ‘Monastery of Bliss’.

To reach this temple a tunnel existed, whose vestiges are still
visible, from another temple that is now in ruins and covered up with
jungle. This ruined edifice was the Jagaddhatri temple that Bankim
would have seen and described in his novel thus:

“Jagaddhatri, Protrectress of the world, wonderful, perfect, rich with
every ornament…the Mother as she was…She trampled under foot the
elephant of the forest and all wild beasts, and in the haunt of the
wild beasts she erected her lotus throne. She was covered with every
ornament, full of laughter and beauty. She was in hue like the young
sun, splendid with all opulence and empire…The Brahmacharin then
showed him a dark underground passage…In a dark room in the bowels of
the earth an insufficient light entered from some unperceived outlet.
By that faint light he saw an image of Kali.” (ibid.)

A little to the east is another temple in which the image of goddess
Durga was worshipped by Kali Brahma Bhattacharya—“Mother as she will
be”:

“The ascetic…began to ascend another underground passage…In a wide
temple built in stone of marble they saw a beautifully fashioned image
of the ten-armed Goddess made in gold, laughing and radiant in the
light of the early sun…Her ten arms are extended towards the ten
regions and they bear many a force imaged in her manifold weapons; her
enemies are trampled under her feet and the lion on which her foot
rests is busy destroying the foe…on her right Lakshmi as Prosperity,
on her left Speech, giver of learning and science, Kartikeya with her
as Strength, Ganesh as Success.”

In the tenth chapter of Ananda Math there is an elaborate description
of an extremely opulent building housing a dazzling image of four-
armed Vishnu with two huge demons, beheaded, lying in front, Lakshmi
garlanded with lotuses on the left with flowing hair, as though
terrified, and on the right Sarasvati with book and musical
instrument, surrounded with incarnate raga-raginis and on his lap one
lovelier than either goddess, more opulent and more majestic: the
Mother. The dynastic deity of the Lalgola Raja family was Vishnu and
the image was worshipped inside the huge palace. Underground chambers
can still be seen here and it is possible that the Kali icon was
originally housed in one of these, reached through the tunnels.

A little further on is the ruin of an ancient Buddhist Vihara where
the Buddhist goddess Kalkali was worshipped. The stream that flows by
is named after her, and is mentioned in the novel. In chapter 5 of the
novel he describes this “great monastery engirt with ruined masses of
stones. Archaeologists would tell us that this was formerly a monastic
retreat of the Buddhists and afterwards became a Hindu monastery.”
This is where Kalyani first sees the noble, white-bodied, white-
haired, white-bearded, white-robed ascetic. Is Kali Brahma
Bhattacharya the inspiration for this figure?

To the north of the palace, through what was then a dense forest, one
reaches the confluence of Kalkali, Padma and Bhairav rivers known as
“Sati-maar thaan (sthaan, place)”. Here, under a massive banyan tree,
groups of Bir and Shri sects of violent Tantriks used to meet. Kali
Brahma used to tutor them in opposing British rule to free the
shackled Mother. One tunnel from the Kali temple goes straight to the
Kalkali river, whose banks were dotted with a number of small temples
in which these tantriks used to take shelter. It is said that in this
Kali temple Bankim witnessed a very old tantrik offering a red
hibiscus to the goddess, shouting “Jaya ma danujdalani, bande bandini
matarang”. Is it mere coincidence that if “bandini” is dropped from
this tantrik’s exclamation we get exactly Bankim’s “bande matarang”?

Bhakat hazards a guess that this may have occurred on the full moon
night of Maagh, 1280 B.S. (Jan-Feb 1874) when the death anniversary of
Rao Ramshankar Roy used to be observed in the Lalgola family. This
occasion occurred very soon after the court case in Berhampur and
Bankimchandra’s taking leave. On this anniversary, sadhus from Benares
used to arrive at this Kali temple. Repeatedly Bankim refers to “Maghi
purnima” in the novel.

The inspiration Bankim received from all this is reflected first in
his essay “Aamaar Durgotsab” (1874).

In the same area we find the Raghunath temple with icons of Rama,
Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman, Radha and Krishna, with 51 Shiva lingas and
34 Saalgraams. It is said that these were kept here from the time of
the Sanyasi Revolt of 1772-73. Bhakat points out that near the Lalgola
zamindari was the estate of Rani Bhawani of Natore who used to
distribute food freely to the ascetics and was therefore renowned as
goddess Annapurna herself. Her patronage extended right up to Benares.
In 1772-3 Warren Hastings, the Governor General, forfeited a large
portion of the Rani’s estate. This lead to stoppage of the supplies to
the Sanyasis. The famine that followed in Bengal fanned the flames and
the Sanyasis attacked the British. Led by the tantrik Mahant Ramdas of
Dinajpur’s Kanchan Mashida monastery, they deposited the icons of
their deities with Rao Atmaram Roy, the Lalgola zamindar, and left on
their mission.

Bhakat has identified Bankimchandra’s “Padachinnha” village with Dewan
Sarai village which tallies with all the data in the novel: north to
south beside Padachinnha the earthern embankment built by the Nawab
runs through “to Murshidabad, Cossimbazar or Calcutta” where Kalyani
urges Mohendra to go and also mentions “town” which could be a
reference to “nagar/Rajnagar” in Birbhum which can also be reached by
this embankment. (chapter 1 of Ananda Math). On either side of the
embankment there used to be dense forest, and at the confluence, at
Basumati (located in Nashipur, now washed into the river was a burning
ghat frequented by Bhojpuri Tantriks. All the temples mentioned in the
novel are also here, as also the tunnels, the Vishnu temple, Kalkali
river. Bhojpuri speaking looters and sepoys feature in the novel who
tally with the fact of such people having been brought into Lalgola by
the zamindar to act as sepoys and servants. Bhakat himself is a scion
of such a family of staff-wielding guards and servants. They used to
live in the “Deshwali” area in the jungle adjacent the palace on the
banks of the Kalkali and Padma with surnames like Mishra, Pande, Rai
and used to receive initiation in tantric worship from Kali Brahma.
The guru was addressed as “maharaj”.

Bhakat proposes that Satyananda of the novel is none other than Kali
Brahma Bhattacharya; that Dhirananda is based on the court-poet and
priest of Lalgola, Trailokyanath Smritibhushan; that Bhabananda is
based on the character of Raja Jogindranarain Roy (himself a tantric
sadhak), who stood by Bankim and helped him get away from the wrath of
the British militia; that Jibananda reflects much of Bankim himself.
Bankim would have lived in the first floor room that still exists in
the Kali temple courtyard. In the ground floor room lived Dr. Parry
who had spent nearly Rs.10,000 in 1873 to make a medical library for
the Lalgola palace. He is said to have worshipped Kali and could be
the original for the physician in the novel who is loyal to the
British.

On the basis of these findings, it can now be asserted that Ananda
Math was not just a figment of the novelist’s imagination, but was
rooted in a personal insult suffered by Bankimchandra and in the
experiences he had in Lalgola as a guest of Rao Jogindranarain Roy.

But a fascinating puzzle remains. Before the images of the Mother are
shown, there is reference to worshipping the country itself as Mother,
quoting the Sanskrit half-sloka, janani janmabhumisca svargadapi
gariyasi. Where did Bankim get this from? Considerable research by me
has failed to pinpoint where it occurs. Several Tamil and Malayali
Sanskritists recite it with aplomb and attribute it to Rama who is
supposed to have responded in these words to Lakshmana when requested
to stay on in Lanka, the city-of-gold, instead of returning to
Ayodhya. Robert Goldman, the translator of the critical text of the
epic, informs that it occurs in some version in the Yuddhakanda as
follows:

api svarnamayi lanka na me laksmana rocate /
janani janmabhumis casvargadapi gariyasi //

Unfortunately, neither the Valmiki Ramayana, nor the Adhyatma and
Ananda Ramayanas, nor the version in the Mahabharata feature the
sloka. So it remains a puzzle like the panchakanya sloka.

– Pradip Bhattacharya, IAS
August 3, 2002

See Also : The Problem of Janani janmabhumishca



MURSHIDABAD
A quiet town on the banks of the Bhagirathi river, Murshidabad has
stood witness to events that changed the course of Indian history.
Capital during the reign of Siraj-ud-daula, the Nawab of Bengal,
Murshidabad was also a flourishing trading town between inland India
and the port of Kolkata.

Places Of Interest:

There are many places of interest here.

Nimak Haram Deohri (Traitor’s Gate) is the place where Siraj-ud-daula
was assassinated after the battle of Plassey.

Khusbagh (Garden of Happiness) is a boat ride across the river, where
Siraj is buried.

Hazarduari (Palace of a Thousand Doors) is built in classical
architectural style. Now a museum, the palace houses, among other
artifacts, the Nawab's silver throne, ivory sofa and ivory palanquins.

Other important landmarks are the Great Imambara, Moti Jhil (Pearl
Lake) and the impressive ruins of Katra Mosque, built in 1723, and
Medina Mosque.

Nizamatkila, an Italian style palace of Nawab Mir Jafar, stands beside
Bhagirathi river.

The Jain Parasnath Temple is at Kathgola.

Another interesting palace is Wasif Manzil, with its unique collection
of curios, paintings, arms and costumes.

The Char Bangla Temple at Baranagore was built in the 18th century by
Rani Bhavani.

The Bhavaniswar Temple, too, is one of the finest examples of
terracotta sculpture in West Bengal. It is located 23 km from
Murshidabad.




Murshidabad




Specialities:

Besides the crumbling mansions and cemeteries of the English and Dutch
settlements, Murshidabad is famous for raw silk (tussar) production.
The Government Silk Research Centre is located here.

Exquisite ivory carvings, gleaming brassware and traditional
handicrafts are the other specialities of the town.

Communication:

Situated 221 km north of Kolkata, Murshidabad is connected by railway
and road. Long distance bus services (to Kolkata, Malda and Siliguri)
are available at Berhampore, 11 km south of Murshidabad. Berhampore is
also linked by railway service from Kolkata.

You may stay at the Tourist Lodge of West Bengal Tourism Development
Corporation at Berhampore, 11 km from Murshidabad.



Rani Bhabani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Rani Bhabani (Bangla: রাণী ভবাণী [1]) (1716-1795) was a zamindar of
Rajshahi, in (now) Bangladesh during the British colonial era.


[edit] Life
Born in Bogra District, Bhabani was married off to Raja Ramkanta, the
then zamindar of Rajshahi. After his death, Bhabani became the de jure
zamindar, and started being referred to as Rani, meaning queen. A
woman as a zamindar was extremely rare in those days, but Rani Bhabani
managed the vast Rajshahi zamindari most efficiently and effectively
for over four decades. Holwell, an English writer, speculated that the
stipulated annual rent of the estate to the crown was 7 million
rupees, the real revenues being about 15 million.

However, what made Rani Bhabani a household name among the common
people was her philanthropy and general generosity, combined with an
austere personal life. The number of temples, guesthouses and roads
she constructed across Bengal is believed to be in the hundreds. She
also built numerous water tanks, alleviating the acute water problem
of her subjects. She was also interested in the spread of education
and donated generously to many educational institutes.

During the era of Rani Bhabani, she might have made some great
contributions for the development and renovation of Bhabanipur temple.
The deity or Goddess of Ma Tara of the Bhabanipur Temple is probably
named after Rani Bhabani. Bhabanipur is a shakti-peeth which is
located at Sherpur Upazila of Bogra District.

Rani Bhabani's house in Natore remains a main tourist attraction in
Bangladesh to date.



British : Sanyasi Vidroh




http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:pHyONMAsW0UJ:indiansaga.com/history/british_sanyasi1.html+Sanyasi+Vidroh&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=in

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Ancient
Indus Valley
Aryans
Magadha
Mauryan Era
Post Mauryan
Kushana Era
Golden Age
Post Gupta



Medieval
Arab Invasion
South India
Prithviraj Era
Delhi Sultunate
Mughal Period
Rajputs
Maratha Era
British Period



Modern
Reforms
Sikhs
Mutiny
Congress
Bengal
Non-Cooperation
Revolutionaries
Subhash & INA
Partition
Independence



Chronology
Ancient
Medieval
Modern




East India Company | French | Plassey | Anglo-French | Dupleix |
Bengal | Buxar | Warren Hastings | South | Permanent Settlement | Tipu
| 18th Century | Anarchy | Anglo-Maratha | Revolts | Sanyasi Vidroh |
Others Revolts
Sanyasis (ascetics) generally attacked hoards of grains or other
foodstuffs, distributed the stuffs thus collected among the hungry
peasants and poor laborers. During the great famine of 1769-70. These
ascetics were the only means of survival for the ordinary Bengalis,
who were devastated by the onslaught of mother nature on one side and
robbed by the fury of the company & its pawns on the other side.

Thus the ascetic uprising grew in terms of popularity in Bengal, there
was huge support for these fighting ascetics within the masses. Who
joined this movement and gave it stability and strength. All those
people who were responsible for various acts of atrocities, on
innocent civilians, were kidnapped and killed. Thus grew a movement
which was violent in nature but yet popular and had roots in the
masses. During this famous uprising that the famous couplet Vande-
Mataram (Hail the Motherland) was coined. This couplet went on to
change the course of the Indian freedom struggle. The force &
popularity of Vande-Mataram could be gauged by the fact that the
British India government was forced to ban it.

So the great Sanyasi-Vidroh went on till 1800, but wasn't able to
succeed in weeding away British & Muslim imperialists but for few
moments it gave the ordinary Bengalis a ray of hope that they may
ultimately succeed in changing the course of history. Still you could
hear about the great Sanyasi Vidroh in various traditional Baul Geet
(folk music of Bengal).

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee rekindled the glory of the Sanyasi Vidroh,
through his famous novel Anandmath (published 1882), which later on
became the Bible of Indian Freedom Struggle.




Vande Mataram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Bande Mataram redirects here, for other uses of the term, see Bande
Mataram (disambiguation).
This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support,
you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing
conjuncts instead of Indic text.



Typical depiction of Bharat Mata by Abanindranath Tagore
Vande Mataram (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् Vande Mātaram, Bengali: বন্দে
মাতরম Bônde Matorom; English Translation: Bow to thee Mother ) is the
national song of India[1], distinct from the national anthem of India
"Jana Gana Mana". The song was composed by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay
in a mixture of Bengali and Sanskrit.[2] and the first political
occasion where it was sung was the 1896 session of the Indian National
Congress[1].

In 2003, ‏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. According to BBC, people from 155 countries/
island voted. Vande Mataram was second in top 10 songs.[3]

Contents
[hide]
1 History and significance
2 Controversy
2.1 Rabindranath Tagore on Vande Mataram
2.2 Dr. Rajendra Prasad on Vande Mataram
2.3 Controversy in 2006
3 Support for Vande Mataram
3.1 Muslim institutions and Vande Mataram
3.2 Sikh Institutions and Vande Mataram
3.3 Christian institutions and Vande Mataram
4 Vande Mataram in Movies
5 Text of Vande Mataram
5.1 Version adopted by Congress, 1905
5.2 Translation
6 Media
7 Miscellany
8 See also
9 References
10 Notes
11 External links



[edit] History and significance
It is generally believed that the concept of Vande Mataram came to
Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay when he was still a government official
under the British Raj. Around 1870, the British rulers of India had
declared that singing of God Save the Queen would be mandatory.[2] He
wrote it in a spontaneous session using words from two languages he
was expert in, Sanskrit and Bengali. However, the song was initially
highly criticized for the difficulty in pronunciation of some of the
words.[2] The song first appeared in Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's
book Anandamatha (pronounced Anondomôţh in Bengali), published in 1882
amid fears of a ban by British Raj. However, the song itself was
actually written in 1876.[2] Jadunath Bhattacharya set the tune for
this song just after it was written.[2]



The flag raised by Bhikaiji Cama in 1907
"Vande Mataram" was the national cry for freedom from British
oppression during the freedom movement. Large rallies, fermenting
initially in Bengal, in the major metropolis of Calcutta, would work
themselves up into a patriotic fervour by shouting the slogan "Vande
Mataram", or "Hail to the Mother(land)!". The British, fearful of the
potential danger of an incited Indian 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 Charan Sen sang it five years later in 1901 at
another session of the Congress at Calcutta. Poet Sarala Devi
Chaudurani sang the song in the Benares Congress Session in 1905. Lala
Lajpat Rai started a journal called Vande Mataram from Lahore.[2]
Hiralal Sen made India's first political film in 1905 which ended with
the chant. Matangini Hazra's last words as she was shot to death by
the Crown police were Vande Mataram[4]

In 1907, Bhikaiji Cama (1861-1936) created the first version of
India's national flag (the Tiranga) in Stuttgart, Germany in 1907. It
had Vande Mataram written on it in the middle band.[5]

A number of lyrical and musical experiments have been done and many
versions of the song have been created and released throughout the
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 Leader, Amar asha and
Anandamath. It is widely believed that the tune set for All India
Radio station version was composed by Ravi Shankar.[2]


[edit] Controversy
Jana Gana Mana was chosen as the National Anthem of independent India.
Vande Mataram was rejected on the grounds that Muslims felt offended
by its depiction of the nation as "Mother Durga"—a Hindu goddess— thus
equating the nation with the Hindu conception of shakti, divine
feminine dynamic force; and by its origin as part of Anandamatha, a
novel they felt had an anti-Muslim message (see External links
below).

In 1937 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, the Congress decided
to adopt only the first two stanzas as the national song.


[edit] Rabindranath Tagore on Vande Mataram
"Vande Mataram! These are the magic words which will open the door of
his iron safe, break through the walls of his strong room, and
confound the hearts of those who are disloyal to its call to say Vande
Mataram." (Rabindranath Tagore in 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 communities
in India. In his letter to Subhash Chandra Bose (1937) Rabindranath
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 ten-
handed deity as 'Swadesh' [the nation]. This year many of the special
[Durga] Puja numbers of our magazines have quoted verses from Vande
Mataram - proof that the editors take the song to be a hymn to Durga.
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 Mussalmans show signs of stubborn fanaticism, we regard these
as intolerable. When we too copy 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 strong feelings on both sides, a
balanced judgment is essential. In pursuit of our political aims we
want peace, unity and good will - we do not want the endless tug of
war that comes from supporting the demands of one faction over the
other." [6]

In the last decade Vande Mataram has been used as a rallying cry by
Hindu nationalists in India, who have challenged the status of the
current national anthem by Rabindranath.

[edit] Dr. Rajendra Prasad on Vande Mataram
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)

[edit] Controversy in 2006
On August 22, 2006, there was a row in the Lok Sabha of the Indian
Parliament over whether singing of Vande Mataram in schools should be
made mandatory. The ruling coalition (UPA) and Opposition members
debated over the Government's stance that singing the National Song
Vande Mataram on September 7, 2006 to mark the 125th year celebration
of its creation should be voluntary. This led to the House to be
adjourned twice. Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh
noted that it was not binding on citizens to sing the song. Arjun
Singh had earlier asked all state governments to ensure that the first
two stanzas of the song were sung in all schools on that day. BJP
Deputy Leader V K Malhotra wanted the Government to clarify whether
singing the national song on September 7 in schools was mandatory or
not. On August 28, targeting the BJP, Congress spokesman Abhishek
Singhvi said that in 1998 when Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee of the BJP was
the Prime Minister, the BJP supported a similar circular issued by the
Uttar Pradesh government to make the recitation compulsory. But Mr
Vajpayee had then clarified that it was not necessary to make it
compulsory.[7]

On September 7, 2006, the nation celebrated the National Song.
Television channels showed school children singing the song at the
notified time.[8] Some Muslim groups had discouraged parents from
sending their wards to school on the grounds, after the BJP had
repeatedly insisted that the National Song must be sung. However, many
Muslims did participate in the celebrations[8].


[edit] Support for Vande Mataram

[edit] Muslim institutions and Vande Mataram
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 Vande Mataram as the "National Song of India" . Arif Mohammed
Khan, a former member of parliament for the Bharatiya Janata Party
wrote an Urdu translation of Vande Mataram which starts as Tasleemat,
maan tasleemat.[9] In 2006, amidst the controversy of whether singing
of the song in schools should be mandatory or optional, some Indian
Muslims did show support for singing the song.[8]

All India Sunni Ulema Board on Sept 6, 2006 issued a fatwa that the
Muslims can sing the first two verses of the song. The Board president
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."[10] Shia scholar and All India Muslim Personal Law Board
vice-president Maulana Kalbe Sadiq stated on Sept 5, 2006 that
scholars need to examine the term "vande". He asked, "Does it mean
salutation or worship?"[11]


[edit] Sikh Institutions and Vande Mataram
Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee or SGPC, the paramount
representative body in the Sikh Panth, stated through its media
department that all its 100 schools and colleges had been ordered to
say `Yes' to the song. In a subsequent interview their chief Jathedar
Avtar Singh Makkar stated that "The Sikh children would sing Vande
Mataram and Deh Shiva Var Mohe, the song scripted by tenth Guru of the
Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh in the morning prayers". He also said "What
is wrong with the Vande Mataram? It is a national song and speaks of
patriotism. We are part of the Indian nation and Sikhs have greatly
contributed for its independence."[12] However Dal Khalsa, Delhi Sikh
Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee and other International Sikh
organisations supporting Khalistan have criticized the SGPC chief.
[13]


[edit] Christian institutions and Vande Mataram
Fr Cyprian Kullu, from Jharkhand in an interview with AsiaNews: "The
song is a part of our history and national festivity and religion
should not be dragged into such mundane things. The Vande Mataram is
simply a national song without any connotation that could violate the
tenets of any religion."[14] However some Christian institutions such
as Our Lady of Fatima Convent School in Patiala did not sing the song
on its 100th anniversary as mandated by the state. Some Christians
themselves might be misinformed about the intention and content of the
song. After all Christians make a distinction between "veneration" and
"worship" and the song falls in neither categories and they should not
be worried. If the song generates a feeling of "Indian-ness" among all
Indians it should be sung. But the state need not make it mandatory.
[15]


[edit] Vande Mataram in Movies
The Vande Mataram theme has been used on a few Bollywood movie songs.
In 1954, poet Pradeep used the expression in a song in Jagriti:

aao bachchon tumhen dikhaayen jhaanki hindustaan ki
is mitti se tilak karo ye dharati hai balidaan ki
vande maataram ... [16]
The singers, Usha Uthup's and Kavita Krishnamurthy's rendition of
Vande Mataram was part of the 2001 movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
[17]

The most recent song inspired by Vande Mataram is in Lage Raho
Munnabhai:

Ainak pehne, lathi pakde chalte the woh shaan se
Zaalim kaape thar thar, thar thar, sun kar unka naam re.
Kadd tha unka chota sa aur sarpat unki chal re
Duble se patle se the woh, chalte seena taan ke
Bande mein tha dum, Vande Mataram[18]

[edit] Text of Vande Mataram

[edit] Version adopted by Congress, 1905
In Devanagari script
वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्यश्यामलां मातरम् |
शुभ्र ज्योत्स्ना पुलकित यामिनीम्
फुल्ल कुसुमित द्रुमदलशोभिनीम्,
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीम्
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् ||

In Bengali script
বন্দে মাতরম্
সুজলাং সুফলাং মলযজশীতলাম্
শস্য শ্যামলাং মাতরম্ |
শুভ্র জ্যোত্স্ন পুলকিত যামিনীম্
ফুল্ল কুসুমিত দ্রুমদলশোভিনীম্,
সুহাসিনীং সুমধুর ভাষিণীম্
সুখদাং বরদাং মাতরম্ ||


Devanagari transliteration
vande mātaram
sujalāṃ suphalāṃ malayajaśītalām
śasya śyāmalāṃ mātaram
śubhra jyotsnā pulakita yāminīm
phulla kusumita drumadalaśobhinīm
suhāsinīṃ sumadhura bhāṣiṇīm
sukhadāṃ varadāṃ mātaram
Bengali Romanization
bônde matorom
shujolang shufolang môloeôjoshitolam
shoshsho shêmolang matorom
shubhro jotsna pulokito jaminim
fullo kushumito drumodôloshobhinim
shuhashining shumodhuro bhashinim
shukhodang bôrodang matorom


Miscellany

The fact that Vande Mataram is still popular today can be attested to
by the fact that in 2002 it was the voted the second most requested
song by listeners on the BBC's World Service radio. However, in the
final ranking details, the origin was miscredited to a 1950's film.
[19]
Throughout its history there have been numerous remakes, recreations,
and interpretations of this song. Notable is music composer A. R.
Rahman's Vande Mataram released to commemorate fifty years of India's
Independence in 1997 produced by Bharat Bala Productions.
The controversy surrounding Vande Mataram is not unique. There has
also been some controversy around Jana Gana Mana as the national
anthem.
This is not the only song/verse with Vande Mataram as a start. There
is a Sanskrit verse that has been quoted since time immemorial; and is
very popular as a felicitation/sloka singing in south Indian carnatic
music. The verses are as follows:
Vande maataram Ambikaam Bhagavathi
Vaaneeramaa Sevitham Kalyaani Kamaneeya Kalpalathikaa Kailaasa Naadha
Priyaam Vedaantha Prathipaadyamaana Vibhavam Vidhvan Manoranjani Sri
Chakraankitha Ratna Peettha Nilayaam Sreeraja Rajeswari Sreeraja
Rajeswari

Sreeraja Rajeswari



[edit] References
^ a b "National Symbols of India". Government of India. Retrieved on
2008-04-29.
^ a b c d e f g Vande Mataram
^ The Worlds Top Ten — BBC World Service
^ Chakrabarty, Bidyut (1997). Local Politics and Indian Nationalism:
Midnapur (1919-1944). New Delhi: Manohar, 167.
^ p2
^ (Letter #314, Selected Letters of Rabindranath Tagore, edited by K.
Datta and A. Robinson, Cambridge University Press)
^ "BJP vs Congress: It’s Vande vs Kandahar", Asian Age (2006-08-28).
^ a b c BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indians celebrate national song
^ outlookindia.com
^ Now, a fatwa to sing Vande Mataram-Hyderabad-Cities-The Times of
India
^ Muslims will sing, but omit Vande
^ Alternative & Independent Source of Indian Subcontinent News
^ http://www.sikhsangat.org/publish/article_1327.shtml
^ INDIA India: fatwa against national song celebrating motherland -
Asia News
^ PunjabNewsline.com - Sikhs and christians in Punjab stayed away from
'Vande Matram'
^ Lyrics of hindi song Aao Bachhon Tumhen Dikhaaye
^ Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) - Music India OnLine
^ LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI official site Gallery
^ The Worlds Top Ten | BBC World Service