Sri Lankan National Anthem's Tagore Connection
nkdatta8839
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKeb3tsZsvU ;
==========================================
[The Sri Lankan national anthem was written by Ananda Samarakoon, most
probably in 1939-40, while he was Tagore's disciple at Visva-Bharati
University. Samarakoon's first Shantiniketan stint ended after six
months but he heralded a new brand of Sinhalese music influenced by
Rabindra sangeeth]
http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/06/stories/2011050658222200.htm
The HINDU, Chennai
Friday, May 6, 2011
Sri Lanka to release stamp on Tagore
By R.K. Radhakrishnan
COLOMBO: The Government of Sri Lanka will release on May 7, a postal
stamp and first day cover on Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, on
the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary celebrations.
The stamp, priced at LKR 5, will be released by Minister for Postal
Services Jewan Kumaranathunga at a function presided over by Indian
High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha, said the Indian Deputy
High Commissioner, Vikram Misri, here.
Sri Lankan Minister for Cultural Affairs and Arts T.B. Ekanayake, will
release ‘Remembering Rabindranath Tagore,' a commemorative volume
edited by Sandagomi Coperahewa and published by the University of
Colombo. The volume contains 15 articles in English, Sinhala and Tamil
and highlights the concerns and philosophy of Tagore and his
contribution to life and literature, said Professor Coperahewa.
The events for the celebrations are being organised by the Indian
Cultural Centre in association with the Bangladesh High Commission,
Sri Lankan Ministries and Universities, the Tagore Society of Sri
Lanka and the India-Sri Lanka Foundation.
Tagore visited Sri Lanka thrice – 1922, 1930 and 1934 – and was
instrumental in the renaissance of its culture. He wrote the national
anthem for two countries – India and Bangladesh – and influenced the
anthem in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan national anthem was written by
Ananda Samarakoon, most probably in 1939-40, while he was Tagore's
disciple at Visva-Bharati University. Samarakoon's first Shantiniketan
stint ended after six months but he heralded a new brand of Sinhalese
music influenced by Rabindra sangeeth.
Over the next year, the life and works of Tagore will form the
centrepieces of numerous events being organised by the Indian
government and several Sri Lankan organisations, said Mr. Misri. A
Tagore Day will be celebrated on May 6 at the University of Colombo.
Essay writing competitions for college students, exposition of
Rabindra sangeeth, are also being held.
===============================
[Tagore's association with the anthems of India and Bangladesh are
well known. What is less well-known is Gurudev's impact on Sri Lanka's
anthem. Inspired by Tagore, his student Ananda Samarakoon wrote and
composed the Sri Lankan anthem in 1939-40]
Times Of India
April 3, 2011
Man of the series: Nobel laureate Tagore
NEW DELHI: India may be on song, but the man with the top score this
World Cup, albeit in musical terms, was Nobel laureate Rabindranath
Tagore as the genius behind the national anthems of three countries,
India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka.
It is rare for international sports events to begin and end with
players of different nationalities singing anthems written by the same
man. But it happened this time around.
Apart from the desire to win, Tagore was the factor that linked them
all. The literary giant's 'Amar Shonar Bangla' and 'Jana Gana Mana'
kicked off World Cup 2011's first match between Bangladesh and India
on February 19 in Dhaka. Saturday's finals in Mumbai had India's
anthem being played while the Sri Lankan team sang 'Sri Lanka Mathaa',
which also has the Tagore stamp.
Tagore's association with the anthems of India and Bangladesh are well
known. What is less well-known is Gurudev's impact on Sri Lanka's
anthem. Inspired by Tagore, his student Ananda Samarakoon wrote and
composed the Sri Lankan anthem in 1939-40. It was adopted as the
island nation's anthem around 1952, though political turmoil has seen
it altered over the years.
As a disciple of Tagore at Shantiniketan, Samarakoon's composition is
in Rabindra-sangeet style. Some credit Tagore with having composed the
music. It was Samarakoon's six-month stint at Tagore's arts college
Shantiniketan that inspired him to begin the anthem. The style
eventually developed to be the "first traditions of unique Sinhalese
music", wrote Sri Lankan news portal Lanka Gazette in celebration
Gurudev's 150th birth anniversary this year.
As every Indian knows, Jana Gana Mana was written and set to music by
the legendary poet and artist. The first 10 lines of his 1905 poem
Amar Shonar Bangla became Bangladesh's anthem in 1972.
========================================
Thematically, the Sri Lankan national anthem bears an uncanny
resemblance to the first stanza of Vande Mataram adopted as India's
national song and also to Bangladesh's national anthem.
A translation of Sri Lanka's national anthem:
Mother Lanka we worship Thee!
Plenteous in prosperity, Thou,
Beauteous in grace and love,
Laden with corn and luscious fruit
And fragrant flowers of radiant hue,
Giver of life and all good things,
Our land of joy and victory,
Receive our grateful praise sublime,
Lanka! We worship Thee.
A translation of Vande Matarm's first stanza adopted as India's
national song:
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.
A translation of Bangladesh's national anthem:
My Bengal of gold, I love you
Forever your skies, your air set my heart in tune
as if it were a flute,
In Spring, Oh mother mine, the fragrance from
your mango-groves makes me wild with joy-
Ah, what a thrill!
In Autumn, Oh mother mine,
in the full-blossomes paddy fields,
I have seen spread all over - sweet smiles!
Ah, what a beauty, what shades, what an affection
and what a tenderness!
What a quilt have you spread at the feet of
banyan trees and along the banks of rivers!
Oh mother mine, words from your lips are like
Nectar to my ears!
Ah, what a thrill!
If sadness, Oh mother mine, casts a gloom on your face,
my eyes are filled with tears!
======================================
Satish Kumar
> Sri Lankan National Anthemhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKeb3tsZsvU;
Genesis of Sri Lanka's national anthem - an excerpt from article in
The Hindu (May 17, 2011)
17-5-11
Celebrating Rabindranath Tagore's Legacy
By Haroon Habib
"Sri Lanka's national anthem was also penned by Tagore: Apa Sri Lanka,
Nama Nama Nama Nama Mata, Sundar Sri Boroni was originally Nama Nama
Sri Lanka Mata in Bangla, written and set to its tune by Tagore. He
did it at the request of his favourite Sri Lankan student at
Santiniketan, Ananda Samarkun, in 1938. In 1940, Ananda returned to
his native land and translated the song into Sinhalese and recorded it
in Tagore's tune. "