“Bharat Bhagya Vidhaata” These are the lyrics of the same Bengali song whose Hindi form was adopted as the national anthem of India. That national anthem, after listening and singing which we 140 crore Indians get goosebumps. Hearing this gives a different feeling of patriotism. Which reminds us that there is blood, sweat and sacrifice of many people behind liberating India. And it is important to know that our national anthem also has its own separate history. This year we are completing 78 years of independence, but the history of our national anthem goes back many decades before independence. Our national anthem has a journey from “Bharato Bhagyo Bidhata” to “Jan-Gan-Man”. So let us know how a Bengali song in Hindi form gave identity to the country by becoming its national anthem.
How was the national anthem composed?
The national anthem of India, Jana-Gana-Mana, is the Hindi version of the Bengali song ‘Bharato-Bhagyo Bidhaata’ written by the famous writer and poet Rabindranath Tagore. Rabindranath Tagore wrote this Bengali song in 5 stanzas and was published for the first time in the Bengali magazine ‘Tatvabodhini Patrika’ in the year 1905. In the year 1911, in the second session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta, people heard this Bengali song for the first time which was sung by Tagore himself. Before the Hindi translation of this song, in the year 1919, Tagore himself translated this song into English and named it ‘The Morning Song of India’. On 28 February 1919, for the first time outside Calcutta, Tagore himself sang the English translation of this song at the Theosophical College, Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh. In the year 1943, this Bengali song was translated into Hindi and was named Shubh-Sukh-Chain and in the same year this Hindi translation was given the status of the national anthem of India.
Subhash Chandra Bose’s role in giving India’s national anthem
In 1942, while training Indian soldiers against the British in Hamburg, Germany, Bose felt that there should be a song which would keep the soldiers enthusiastic about the country’s independence. Every soldier should do his best to liberate the country and may his courage remain intact. By the time Netaji was training soldiers in Germany, Bharato-Bhagyo Bidhaata had already made its mark as a popular song in India. At that time, a meeting was held in Berlin to decide on a national anthem for the country, in which Bose argued that this song was the best for the national anthem of independent India and thus he declared Bharato-Bhagyo Bidhata as the national anthem of the country.
On 11 September 1942, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose inaugurated the German Indian Society of Hamburg and then for the first time this song was sung as the national anthem of the country. Bose wanted this song to reach as many people as possible, for this he asked two generals of his army, Mumtaz Hussain and Abid Hasan Safrani, to translate this song into Hindi, which was named Shubh Sukh Chain. After this, in the year 1943, Captain Ram Singh Thakur of the Indian National Army composed the same song with military beat.
Cinema also plays an important role in giving the national anthem to the country.
At the time when the struggle for the country’s independence was going on, in the year 1944, Bimal Roy included Bharato-Bhagyo Bidhaata in his film Udayar Pathe. Later in 1945, Bharato-Bhagyo Bidhaata was once again included in the Hindi version of the same film, Hamrahi. This time people heard this song on the big screen and it also became popular. This song became popular among the people because it has the power to bring the country together, to remind the countrymen of the struggles for freedom and of sacrificing everything for the country.
Why was Tagore’s ‘Bharato-Bhagyo Bidhata’ chosen as the national anthem?
The time when Tagore composed this Bengali song ‘Bharato-Bhagyo Bidhaata’. At that time India was under the British government. There were movements going on everywhere to liberate the country. In this song written by Tagore, the states that came under the British Government were included in the words. Which attracted the revolutionaries who fought for freedom, the people of the country and this song also became popular among the people.
Officially declared national anthem in 1950
Every country needs a special song on national and international level occasions which represents that country. Independent India also needed a similar song for itself. After independence, foreign governments demanded an official song from India which could be recorded as the identity of India. In the session of the Constitutional Assembly of India on 25 August 1948, Nehru told that in the year 1943, ‘Jana-Gana-Mana’ had already been rhythmized and sung as the national anthem of India by the Indian National Military and That song is also popular among Indians. Following Nehru’s statement, in the last session of the Constitutional Assembly of India on 24 January 1950, the first President of independent India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, officially declared Jana-Gana-Mana as the national anthem of the country.
Let us tell you that the Bengali song ‘Bharato-Bhagyo Bidhaata’ written by Tagore had 5 stanzas. There is a stanza in its Hindi version ‘Shubh-Sukh-Chain’ and in the official version ‘Jana-Gana-Mana’. It is also important for you to know and keep in mind that our national anthem is sung only in the stipulated time period of 52 seconds. In respect of the national anthem, it is always heard or sung while standing.
Inputs by: Anamika Asthana