“Jana Gana Mana” (Bengali: জন গণ মন, meaning ‘Ruler of the minds of the people’) is the national anthem of India, originally composed by Rabindranath Tagore as “Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata” in Bengali on December 11, 1911. The first stanza of the song was adopted as India’s national anthem on January 24, 1950, during the Constituent Assembly session.
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The full rendition of the anthem takes about 52 seconds, while a shorter version, featuring the first and last lines, takes around 20 seconds. The anthem was first publicly performed on December 27, 1911, at the Calcutta (now Kolkata) session of the Indian National Congress. “Jana Gana Mana” reflects the core concept of ‘unity in diversity’ that defines India’s cultural heritage.
The song was initially composed as a Brahmo hymn in the Bengali language, with its melody set in the raga Alhaiya Bilaval, and it was first published in the Tatwabodhini Patrika in January 1912. Rabindranath Tagore himself performed the song outside of Calcutta for the first time in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, on February 28, 1919. Tagore later translated the song into English as “The Morning Song of India.”
In 1942, it was played as the national anthem by the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra during the founding meeting of the German-Indian Society in Germany. Before its official adoption as India’s national anthem in 1950, the song was featured in the 1945 film “Hamrahi” and was also the school song of The Doon School in 1935. “Jana Gana Mana” was performed at the Indian Constituent Assembly’s midnight session on August 14, 1947, marking India’s independence.
Jana Gana Mana LYRICS
जन-गण-मन अधिनायक जय हे
भारत भाग्य विधाता
पंजाब, सिन्धु, गुजरात, मराठा
द्रविड, उत्कल, बंग
विंध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा
उच्छल जलधि तरंग
तब शुभ नामे जागे
तब शुभ आशिष माँगे
गाहे तब जय गाथा
जन-गण-मंगलदायक जय हे
भारत भाग्य विधाता
जय हे, जय हे, जय हे
जय, जय, जय, जय हे
जन-गण-मन अधिनायक जय हे
भारत भाग्य विधाता
पंजाब, सिन्धु, गुजरात, मराठा
द्रविड, उत्कल, बंग
विंध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा
उच्छल जलधि तरंग
तब शुभ नामे जागे
तब शुभ आशिष माँगे
गाहे तब जय गाथा
जन-गण-मंगलदायक जय हे
भारत भाग्य विधाता
जय हे, जय हे, जय हे
जय, जय, जय, जय हे
Listen to “Indian National Anthem – Jana Gana Mana” below;