National Symbols Of India

National Anthem

Jana Gana Mana- National Anthem of India

jana-gaNa-mana-adhinAyaka, jaya he' 
bhArata-bhAgya-vidhAtA 
punjAba-sindhu-gujarAta-marAThA- 
drAviDa-utkaLa-bangA 
vindhya himAchala yamunA gangA 
uchchala jaladhi tarangA 

tava Subha nAme' jAge' 
tava Subha ASisha mAge' 
gAhe' tava jaya-gAthA | 

jana-gaNa-mangaLadAyaka, jaya he' 
bhArata-bhAgya-vidhAtA 
jaya he', jaya he', jaya he', 
jaya jaya jaya, jaya he'

India’s national anthem "Jana Gana Mana" is in Bengali language but it is too much Sanskritised in nature. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had composed and scored this Brahmo hymn whose first five stanzas were selected to be the national anthem. Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress in December 27, 1911 witnessed this song being sung for the first time. It was on January 24, 1950 that India’s Constituent Assembly adopted "Jana Gana Mana" as official national anthem. It completed one century on December 27, 2011 ever since it was sung for the first time and marked a history.

Abid Ali had translated the original poem Bengali version written by Rabindranath Tagore to Hindi language. The translated version is a bit different from the original Bengali poem. Certain lines have been modified so have the meanings changed accordingly. Constituent Assembly of India adopted “Jana Gana Mana” as official national song on January 1950 for further recognition.

It takes only fifty-two seconds for the national anthem’s formal interpretation. In some occasions it takes only 20 seconds to play and stage to continue with its shortened version that comprise of the only first and last lines of anthem. English translation of this song was done through Tagore himself. Wife of Irish poet James Cousins the famous European music expert Margaret Cousins assisted in the composition of this anthem and therefore its notation got developed at Andhra Pradesh’s Madanapalle region. Original slow rendition singing style followed for the true ascent of this song but once its national anthem version developed for singing this song use of traditional imposing music of Martial Style was practiced.

Lyrics

Although a Bengali text but it has the beauty of being extremely sanskritised one which is denoted with the concept of Sadhu bhasa. Whole song has been composed with the usage of nouns but they equally work well as verbs and function accordingly. All major Indian languages use the nouns that have been used in this song. That is why original song is best understood henceforth while translated in other languages the changes are hardly realized even though a particular language differentiates too much. As the text of this song is quasi-Sanskritised it equally fits into Indic languages from modern group although there is variance of pronunciations in the different parts of the country. There is valid reason for that keeping in view the several Indic languages having unmarked consonants in them with vowels inherent in them. They differ in concords as far as Indian language variations are concerned. Below mentioned transcription describes how Bengali pronunciation has Romanization elements in script and approach.

Musical Composition and English Translation

Translation of "Jana Gana Mana" was done by Rabindranath Tagore himself into English from the original Bengali language so did he develop music in Andhra Pradesh’s Madanapalle town then. Originally it was composed in Bengali language hence its countrywide recognition was not possible and remained limited in initial years. It was known to only few readers of a publication which published this song.

Tagore heartily accepted an invitation from his Irish friend Irish poet James H. Cousins in 1919 to arrive at Madanapalle based Besant Theosophical College for collaborative creative roles. Cousins requested Tagore to address his students in the February 28, 1919 evening hence he preferred singing original Bengali Jana Gana Mana song. Once he finished singing it, the college authorities felt too much attracted to that due to towering ideas it had hence they chose it prayer song for their college. Tagore took the next step and wrote its English version while staying in the captivating Madanapalle hills. He had support from Margaret, who was Cousins' wife and Western music expert. It took few days to compose its music notation which literally brought another type of creativity. Mere few days were required for this song to cross Indian borders as its popularity increased amongst them all who were impressed from it. It became the national anthem thereafter.

The original English translation work having been written by Tagore and titled “The Morning Song of India” still preserves in the Besant Theosophical College library today.

Code of Conduct

Several occasions see the display or singing of the India’s National Anthem as per the specific need. It is clearly on various occasions to ensure that anthem’s versions are maintained correctly and so is advised about specific occasions to choose for playing or singing of anthem and or maintaining paying respect to it for that required decorum must be observed. The government of India has already spreads guidance and general information in the form of instruction in information sheet for best code of conduct.