Bengal guv leads 'Vande Mataram' march to mark 150 years of national song

Kolkata, Nov 10 (PTI) West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Monday led a ‘Vande Mataram March’ from the Indian Museum to the Raj Bhavan here to commemorate 150 years of the national song penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterji.

Bose rode an open-hooded white car accompanied by schoolchildren, as people from different walks of life and age groups joined the march, which covered a distance of a little over 2km.

The march was hosted by the Union Ministry of Culture-run Indian Museum, the largest multipurpose museum in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 7 inaugurated a year-long commemoration of 'Vande Mataram' to mark 150 years of the national song.

The year-long commemoration, which will conclude on November 7, 2026, celebrates 150 years of the timeless composition that inspired India's freedom movement and continues to evoke national pride and unity.

Chatterji had written the song on the occasion of Akshaya Navami, which fell on November 7 in 1875.

The song first appeared in the literary journal 'Bangadarshan' as part of Chatterji's novel, 'Anandamath'. PTI AMR MNB