Vande Mataram's 150 years of musical resonance
From Bankim's 1876 poem to modern fusions, artists have sustained the anthem's spirit of defiance and devotion.
Newsroom, November 09, 2025: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee penned Vande Mataram in 1876 as a Sanskrit verse in his Anandamath novel, but it ignited as a Swadeshi battle cry in 1905, so potent that the British banned it.
Rabindranath Tagore's melodic rendition at the 1947 Constituent Assembly wove it into fabric, while Ravi Shankar's sitar adaptation lent meditative depth.
Hemant Kumar's 1950 film version popularised emotional layers, Lata Mangeshkar's 1970s take added timeless warmth, and A.R. Rahman's 2002 fusion with M.S. Subbulakshmi blended tradition with innovation for Republic Day celebrations.
