The Indian National Anthem, “Jana Gana Mana,” has turned 100 today. The song was composed by Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
It was first performed on Dec. 27, 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress, long before 1947, when British rule in India had ended.
Although it was not written with Independence in mind, it was later translated into Hindi and officially adopted as the country’s national anthem by the Constituent Assembly on Jan. 24, 1950. (source: India Real Time, WSJ)
Earlier this year, a new version of Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem written by Rabindranath Tagore was unveiled. The 8 minute audio-visual presentation has been produced by Saregama and sung by 39 celebrated artists like Girija Devi, M Balamuralikrishna, Nithyashree Mahadevan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma on Santoor, Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt on the Mohan Veena, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kailash Kher, P Susheela, Jagjit Singh and Shankar Mahadevan, folk singers like Lopamudra Mitra and Lakhandas.
The original composition, presented by Rabindranath Tagore himself can be seen below or here.
More recently, a popular video of a silent version of the Indian national anthem has surfaced, touching thousands of hearts. The video has been produced by BIG Cinemas and features differently abled students performing the national anthem. Check out the video below or here.
Jai hind!