Modi Launches Vande Mataram 150th Anniversary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a yearlong nationwide commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram on Friday at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. The event, organized by the Ministry of Culture, drew approximately 11,000 participants and featured the mass singing of the song's full version, along with the release of a commemorative stamp and coin to honor its enduring legacy.

Composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee on November 7, 1875, in a quiet home near Chinsurah along the Hooghly River, Vande Mataram first appeared in serialized form in Chatterjee's literary journal Bangadarshan before being incorporated into his 1882 novel Anandamath. Written in Sanskritized Bengali, the song translates to "I bow to thee, Mother" and personifies the motherland as a source of strength, prosperity, and divinity. It quickly became a rallying cry during India's freedom struggle, symbolizing unity and resistance against British rule.

During the colonial era, the song's growing influence alarmed authorities, leading to a ban on its public recitation amid the Swadeshi movement and the 1905 partition of Bengal. Its first notable public performance...