Some facts about " Jana Gana Mana" - Our National Anthem.
Just a thought for our National Anthem! How
well do you know it?
I have always wondered who is the "adhinayak" and "bharat bhagya vidhata", whose praise we are singing. I thought it might be referring to the Motherland India!
Our current National Anthem "Jana Gana Mana" is sung throughout the country. Did you know the following about our national anthem, I didn't :
To begin with, India's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka, was written by Rabindranath Tagore in honor of King George V and the Queen of England when they visited India in 1919.
To honor their visit Pandit Motilal Nehru had the five stanzas included, which are in praise of the King andQueen. (And most of us think it is in the praise of our greatmotherland!!!)
In the original Bengali verses only those provinces that were under British rule, i.e. Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha etc. were mentioned.
None of the princely states were recognized which are integral parts of India now - Kashmir, Rajasthan, Andhra, Mysore or Kerala. Neither the Indian Ocean nor the Arabian Sea was included, since they were directlyunder Portuguese rule at that time.
The Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka implies that King George V is the lord of the masses and Bharata Bhagya Vidhata is "the bestower of good fortune".
Following is a translation of the five stanzas that glorify the King:
First stanza: (Indian) People wake up remembering your good name and ask for your blessings and they sing your glories.
(Tava shubha name jaage; tava shubha aashish maage, gaaye tava jaya gaatha)
Second stanza: Around your throne people of all religions come and give their love and anxiously wait to hear your kind words.
Third stanza: Praise to the King for being the charioteer, for leading the ancient travelers beyond misery. of this, rather than blindly sing as has been done the past fifty years.
Nehru chose the present national anthem as opposed to VandeMataram because he thought that it would be easier for the band to play or is it because of some other reasons – keeping in mind his "great" secular tag?? !!!
It was an absurd reason but today for that matter, bands have advanced and they can very well play any music. So they can as well play Vande Mataram, which is a far better composition in praise of our dear Motherland -India. Wake up, it's high time!
Shouldn't Vande Mataram be our National Anthem?
R.Jagannathan.
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