Jana Gana Mana (; — "The Minds of All People") is the national anthem of India. Originally written in formal Bengali language, it is the first of five stanzas of a poem composed by Nobel laureateRabindranath Tagore. First performed in 1911, Jana Gana Mana was officially adopted as the Indian national anthem in 1950. The musical score of the anthem was also created by Tagore . A formal rendition of the national anthem takes approximately 52 seconds. A shortened version consisting only the first and last lines (and taking about 20 seconds to play) is also staged occasionally.
জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা! পঞ্জাব সিন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা দ্রাবিড় উৎকল বঙ্গ বিন্ধ্য হিমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা উচ্ছলজলধিতরঙ্গ তব শুভ নামে জাগে, তব শুভ আশিস মাগে, গাহে তব জয়গাথা। জনগণমঙ্গলদায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা! জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয়, জয় হে॥ জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
जनगणमन अधिनायक जय हे, भारतभाग्यविधाता ! पंजाब सिंधु गुजरात मराठा द्राविड़ उत्कल बंग, विंध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा उच्छलजलधितरंग, तव शुभ नामे जागे, तव शुभ आशिश मागे, गाहे तव जयगाथा । जनगणमंगलदायक जय हे, भारत भाग्य विधाता ! जय हे, जय हे, जय हे, जय जय जय, जय हे ! जनगणमन अधिनायक जय हे, भारतभाग्यविधाता ॥
''Thou art the/??? ruler of the minds of all people, ''dispenser of India's destiny. ''Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country, ''in the Dravida country, Utkala (Orissa) and Bengal; ''It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas, ''it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters Jamuna and the Ganges. ''They chant only thy name, ''they seek only thy blessings, ''They sing only thy praise. ''The saving of all people waits in thy hand, ''thou dispenser of India's destiny. ''Victory, victory, victory to thee.
Controversy exists regarding the appropriateness of Jana Gana Mana as the national anthem of an independent India. The poem was composed in December 1911, precisely at the time of the Coronation Durbar of George V, and is a paean in praise of "the overlord of India's destiny". The composition was first sung during a convention of the then loyalist Indian National Congress in Calcutta on Dec. 27, 1911 Rabindranath Tagore. It was sung on the second day of the convention, and the agenda of that day devoted itself to a loyal welcome of George V on his visit to India. The event was reported thus in the Indian press:
"The Bengali poet Babu Rabindranath Tagore sang a song composed by him specially to welcome the Emperor."'' (Statesman, Dec. 28, 1911) "The proceedings began with the singing by Babu Rabindranath Tagore of a song specially composed by him in honour of the Emperor."'' (Englishman, Dec. 28, 1911) "When the proceedings of the Indian National Congress began on Wednesday 27th December 1911, a Bengali song in welcome of the Emperor was sung. A resolution welcoming the Emperor and Empress was also adopted unanimously." (Indian, Dec. 29, 1911)
Unsurprisingly, the belief gained ground that the poem had been written in honour of the visiting monarch. Others aver that the newspaper reports cited above were misguided, the confusion arising since a different song, written in Hindi by Rambhuj Chaudhary, was sung India: Are we still singing for the Empire? by Pradip Kumar Datta on the same occasion in praise of the monarch. However, the two poems were written in different languages; Tagore already enjoyed much fame in India, and newspaper reports are both consistent and categorical on the point of Tagore having himself sung his composition on the occasion.
Nevertheless, other explanations for the motivations that informed the creation of the poem have been proposed. On a visit to India, The poet Yeats received a visit from an Indian admirer who was also, in Yeats' words, "an Indian devotee" of Tagore. In a letter to a lady friend, Yeats quoted this unnamed devotee as giving him a 'strictly off the records' version of events dealing with the writing of Jana Gana Mana''. That version, as presented in 1968 by the Indian Express newspaper, was this:
"He (Tagore) got up very early in the morning and wrote a very beautiful poem.... When he came down, he said to one of us, 'Here is a poem which I have written. It is addressed to God, but give it to Congress people. It will please them." Genesis of Jana Gana Mana
Thus, Tagore is said to have written the poem in honour of God. In a letter to Pulin Behari Sen, Tagore himself wrote:
"A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense."
In 2005, there were calls to delete the word "Sindh" and substitute it with the word Kashmir. The argument was that Sindh was no longer a part of India, having become part of Pakistan as a result of the Partition of 1947. Opponents of this proposal hold that the word "Sindh" refers to the Indus and to Sindhi culture and people who are an integral part of India's cultural fabric. The Supreme Court of India refused to tamper with the national anthem and the wording remains unchanged.
Rabindranath Tagore is the only person whose poems have been adapted as the national anthem of more than one country. Another poem of his was adapted as the national anthem of Bangladesh.
