Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has directed all schools across the state to hold singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ on November seven as part of the nationwide celebration of 150th anniversary of the national song.
A letter has been issued by the Odia Language, Literature & Culture Department to the School & Mass Education and Higher Education Departments, urging institutions to organise the singing of Vande Mataram on their campuses on November seven.
Notably, the Union Cabinet had on October 1 approved year-long countrywide celebrations to mark 150 years of Vande Mataram to connect citizens, especially students and youth, with the song’s original patriotic and revolutionary essence. The celebrations seek to honour the timeless message of the national song and preserve its legacy for future generations.
Composed in Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the 1870s, Vande Mataram was first published in 1882 in his celebrated Bengali novel ‘Anandamath’. The title means “I praise thee, Mother”, symbolising devotion to the motherland.
The song, which played a crucial role during the Indian freedom movement., gained prominence when Rabindranath Tagore first sang it at the 1896 Kolkata session of the Indian National Congress. By 1905, it had become a powerful marching song for freedom fighters.