PM to attend Vande Mataram 150th anniv celebrations on Nov 7; BJP to mark occasion at 150 places

New Delhi/Gurugram Nov 5 (PTI) 'Vande Matram' will be collectively sung at events planned in 150 places of significance across the country to mark 150 years of the national song, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to attend one such programme at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi on Friday.

The event to be attended by the prime minister will mark the launch of the year-long commemoration of the 150 years of the timeless composition, which fostered India's freedom movement and continues to evoke national pride and unity, according to the Ministry of Culture.

The inaugural event at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium will be graced by Prime Minister Modi as the chief guest, it said.

The celebrations will commence in the morning of November 7 with a mass singing of the full version of 'Vande Mataram', at public places with the participation of citizens, including school children, college students, officials, elected representatives, police personnel, and doctors.

In recognition of the song's historic importance and national significance, the Union Cabinet had earlier approved the nationwide celebrations to mark 150 years of the national song, the ministry said.

The salient features of the inaugural ceremony will include a cultural programme, a curated exhibition on the history of 150 Years of 'Vande Mataram', screening of a short documentary film and release of a commemorative stamp and coin, officials said.

The BJP also plans to celebrate the milestone as a festival. Addressing a press conference at party headquarters in New Delhi, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said, "Several programmes to celebrate the occasion will be organised across the country from November 7 to 26 (Constitution Day)." "Vande Matram will be sung at 150 places of significance on November 7, which will be followed by a pledge for using indigenous products," he said, adding poetry writing, recitation, and painting will feature in these events across 20 days.

The places where the Vande Matram commemorative events will be held include Kargil War Memorial, Andaman and Nicobar Cellular Jail, Odisha's Sawaraj Ashram, Shaheed Smarak Park in Agra and Namo Ghat in Varanasi.

Chugh said Vande Mataram served as a slogan and a guiding mantra in the lives and actions of millions of revolutionaries during India’s freedom struggle.

"Many freedom fighters faced the gallows chanting Vande Mataram and endured the oppression of foreign rulers with this slogan on their lips," he said.

"The song was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875, and its first famous public rendition was done by Rabindranath Tagore in Calcutta in 1896. By 1905, during the period of Bengal's partition, the song had been set to the classical raga 'Desh Malhar' and had become immensely popular, echoing as the voice of the people," he added.

BJP national secretary Om Prakash Dhankar, at the press conference, said that chief ministers of all states will also participate in the programmes in their respective capitals to mark the special day.

According to the Culture Ministry, 'Vande Mataram' by Bankim Chandra Chatterji is believed to have been written during the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Navami, which fell on November 7 in 1875.

It first appeared in the literary journal Bangadarshan as part of his novel Anandamath, which was published in a serialised manner and later as a standalone book in 1882, the statement said.

During that period, India was undergoing major social, cultural and political changes, and there was a growing consciousness of national identity and resistance to colonial rule.

The song, invoking the motherland as the embodiment of strength, prosperity and divinity, gave poetic expression to India's awakening spirit of unity and self-respect.

It soon became an enduring symbol of devotion to the nation. On January 24, 1950, Rajendra Prasad, then President of the Constituent Assembly, declared that 'Vande Mataram', having played a historic role in the freedom struggle, shall be accorded equal honour with the National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana', the ministry said. PTI GJS COR KND NSD