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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

100 years on, 'Jana Gana Mana' fires India's patriotism


Jana Gana Mana, composed by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and sung for the first time at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress on December 27, 1911, has fired a nation's patriotism and united it in crisis and triumph for 100 years.

Netaji Bose's Indian National Army adopted Jana Gana Mana as the National Anthem and Mahatma Gandhi in 1946 said the "the song has found a place in our national life."
'Jana Gana Mana' was chosen as the National Anthem of the 1947 Republic of India after the secularism of 'Vande Mataram', that alluded to the motherland as goddess Durga, was doubted by Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, Arya Samajis and others who opposed idol worship. 
Jana Gana Mana was officially adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the Indian national anthem on January 24, 1950.
Unlike Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's more fiery 'Vande Mataram' that inspired freedom fighters to march to their gallows, the Jana Gana Mana anthem is more a celebration of national unity.

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