Jana Gana Mana - Our National Anthem : Its History, Controversy and Meaning.

Namaste Dear Intellectuals,

Every nation has its certain identity. Every nation expresses some or the other ideology of itself either by creating its own symbolics like a flag, a motto or an anthem. Today we're going to talk about our own country India's national anthem.

First of all let us quickly differentiate between National Anthem and National Song.

The National Anthem of India is Jana Gana Mana, composed by Rabindranath Tagore, on which our today's blog will be. The National Song of India is Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. National Anthem, by definition, is a musical composition, at times patriotic in nature, that defines a country’s history, tradition and struggles. Thus, As per Article 51A of the Constitution of India, honouring the National anthem is one of the fundamental duties of a citizen of India. National Song on the other side, is a patriotic hymn adopted by the government of a country to be sung on public or state occasions. A country’s population will strongly relate to a National Song due to many different factors.

Before coming back to the legendary Jana Gana Mana, you must firstly know the composer of the anthem. Thus, Rabindranath and his eternal legacy is our blog, entirely dedicated to him.

1. History and Background of Jana Gana Mana

Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India. It was originally composed as Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata in Bengali by polymath Rabindranath Tagore.The first stanza of the song Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India as the National Anthem on 24 January 1950. A formal rendition of the national anthem takes approximately 52 seconds.

The poem was first publicly recited on the second day of the annual session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 27 December 1911. Then, it was followed in January 1912 at the annual event of the Adi Brahmo Samaj, however, it was largely unknown except to the readers of the Adi Brahmo Samaj journal, Tattwabodhini Patrika. The poem was published in January 1912, under the title Bharat Bhagya Bidhata in the Tatwabodhini Patrika, which was the official publication of the Brahmo Samaj with Tagore then the Editor.

The song was selected as national anthem by Subhas Chandra Bose while he was in Germany. On the occasion of the founding meeting of the German-Indian Society on 11 September 1942 in the Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg, Jana Gana Mana was played for the first time by the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra as the national anthem of an independent India.On the occasion of India attaining freedom, the Indian Constituent Assembly assembled for the first time as a sovereign body on 14 August 1947, midnight and the session closed with a unanimous performance of Jana Gana Mana. The members of the Indian Delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations held at New York in 1947 gave a recording of Jana Gana Mana as the country's national anthem. The song was played by the house orchestra in front of a gathering consisting of representatives from all over the world.

2. "So-called" Controversy behind our National Anthem.

People allege that Jana Gana Mana was first written and presented by Rabindranath Tagore to sing the glories of British King George V and to show salutations and respects to them.

All this misunderstandings began when two Anglo-Indian press, The Statesman and The Indian, 

1. The Statesman (December 28, 1911) wrote, "The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore sang a song composed by him specially to welcome the Emperor."

2. The Indian (December 29, 1911) wrote: “When the proceedings of the Indian National Congress began on Wednesday 27th December 1911, a Bengali song in welcome of the Emperor was sung. A resolution welcoming the Emperor and Empress was also adopted unanimously."

Delhi University's Pradip Kumar Dutta blames these reports for the confusion that persists till this day. “The reports were based on understandable ignorance since the Anglo-Indian press had neither the linguistic abilities nor the interest to be accurate. Actually, two songs were sung that day – ‘Jana Gana Mana’ had been followed by a Hindi song composed specially for George V by Rambhuj Chaudhary. There was no real connection between the composition of Jana Gana Mana and George V, except that the song was sung -- not written - at an event which also felicitated the king.”

The song’s original manuscript is missing and no written records have been found so far to establish the date or year when it was penned. Dinendranath (Rabindranath’s grandson) was a brilliant musician who set the tune for the song. It was rehearsed several times at Nilratan Sen’s house on Harrison Road before it was performed publicly for the first time on December 27 at the convention. Days after the programme, detailed reports about the convention were published in the Anglo-Indian press and the confusion about the song was stirred up by the ineptness of the pro-British Anglo-Indian press.

Many historians aver that the newspaper reports cited above were misguided. The confusion arose in the Indian press since a different song, "Badshah Humara" written in Hindi by Rambhuj Chaudhary, was sung on the same occasion in praise of the George VI. 

Jana Gana Mana's english translation and short summary is "Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People"  which means that Rabindranath here salutes to the God in whose hands lies the destiny of India.On 10 November 1937, Tagore wrote a letter to Pulin Bihari Sen about the controversy. That letter in Bengali can be found in Tagore's biography Rabindrajibani, volume II page 339 by Prabhatkumar Mukherjee. He says there,

"A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Bidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense."

Again in his letter of 19 March 1939 Tagore writes:

"I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity as to sing in praise of George the Fourth or George the Fifth as the Eternal Charioteer leading the pilgrims on their journey through countless ages of the timeless history of mankind." (Purvasa, Phalgun, 1354, p. 738.)

3. The Real Grandeur of Jana Gana Mana.

Now as this blog finally goes towards its end, let us ourselves look at the literal english translation of Jana Gana Mana, translated in English by Rabindranath Tagore himself.

"Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people, dispenser of India's destiny. Thy name rouses the hearts of the Panjaub, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha, of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal; it echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of the Jamuna and Ganges and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise. The saving of all people waits in thy hand, thou dispenser of India's destiny.

⁠Victory, Victory, Victory to thee."

And the extended version of the anthem adds up 4 more stanzas to our above given, official national anthem of India. The remaining stanzas of the extended version goes as :-

"Day and night thy voice goes out from land to land calling the Hindus, Buddhists, Shikhs and Jains round thy throne and the Parsees, Mussalmans and Christians. The East and West join hands in their prayer to thee, and the garland of love is woven. Thou bringest the hearts of all people into the harmony of one life, thou dispenser of India's destiny.

⁠Victory, victory, victory to thee.

The procession of pilgrims passes over the endless road rugged with the rise and fall of nations; and it resounds with the thunder of thy wheels, Eternal Charioteer! Through the dire days of doom thy trumpet sounds and men are led by thee across death. Thy finger points the path to all people, Oh dispenser of Indias destiny!

⁠Victory, victory, victory to thee!

The darkness was dense and deep was the night. My country lay in a deathlike silence of swoon. But thy mother arms were round her and thine eyes gazed upon her troubled face in sleepless love through her hours of ghastly dreams. Thou art the companion and the saviour of the people in their sorrows, thou dispenser of India's destiny,

⁠Victory, victory, victory to thee!

The night fades; the light breaks over the peaks of the Eastern hills; the birds begin to sing and the morning breeze carries the breath of new life. The rays of thy mercy have touched the waking land with their blessings. Victory to the King of Kings, Victory to thee, dispenser of India's destiny.

⁠Victory, Victory, victory to thee."

Now tell me. After reading this, do you think Rabindranath would write such a poem for some George V guy..?

Jai Hind,

Daksh Parekh.