National anthem completes a century
Author: John Abraham | Filed under: Featured, National Thursday, December 29th, 2011National anthem completes a century
Kolkata: ‘Jana Gana Mana…’, India’s lilting national anthem, completed 100 years Tuesday.
First sung by a choir on this date in 1911 at the 26th session of the Indian National Congress here, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was composed and set to tune by Rabindranath Tagore – the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 – days after the British government annulled its plans for the partition of Bengal.
Independent India’s constituent assembly adopted the first stanza of the Brahmo hymn as the national anthem on Jan 24, 1950, after an intense debate that saw Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s ‘Vande Mataram’ lose out narrowly following objections, particularly from Muslims.
‘It’s a proud moment for us. ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is not only the most beautiful song, it also comprehensively describes our unity in diversity. It is the symbol of Indian unity,’ said classical vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan.
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