Vande Mataram is known as the national song of the Republic of India ,but did you know that it was originally a poem written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
in the 1870s? Yes, "Vande Mātaram" is a poem that was written in Sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the 1870s, and was first published in 1882 as part of Chatterjee's Bengali novel Anandmath. Popular belief is that Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was inclined towards events in Indian and Bengali history, particularly the Revolt of 1857 and the previous century's Sanyasi Rebellion. That was also the time when administration was trying to promote "God Save the King" as the anthem for Indian subjects, which Indian nationalists disliked. It is believed that it was due to this promotion of "God Save the King" that the concept of "Vande Mataram" came to Chatterjee. And so, he wrote "Vande Mataram" at Chinsura (Chuchura), in a white colour house of Adhya Family near Hooghly river (near Jora Ghat) in West Bengal. This poem, which was written using words from Sanskrit and Bengali, was published in Chattopadhyay's book Anandamath in 1882. Jadunath Bhattacharya was asked to set a tune for this poem just after it was written. However, this poem became popular, especially among the people protesting for India's independence. So much so, "Vande Mataram" became one of the most popular songs of protest during the Indian independence movement. It became such a symbolic poem that the colonial government in response banned the book and made the recital of the song in public a crime. Rabindranath Tagore first rendered “Vande Mataram” at the 1896 Congress session in Calcutta, held at Beadon Square. Five years later, in 1901, Dakhina Charan Sen sang the song at another Congress session in the city. In 1905, poet Sarala Devi Chaudhurani performed it at the Congress session in Benares. Around the same time, Lala Lajpat Rai launched a journal titled Vande Mataram from Lahore, further popularising the song and its nationalist spirit. 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. Parts of the "Vande Mataram" was chosen as the national song in 1937 by the Indian National Congress, after a committee consisting of Maulana Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Acharya Deva, and Rabindranath Tagore recommended the adoption. Following several protests for and against the adoption of this poem as the national song, on 24 January 1950, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted "Vande Mataram" as the national song of the Republic of India. President of India Rajendra Prasad stated that the song should be honoured equally with the national anthem of India, "Jana Gana Mana".
