‘Vandya Vande Mataram’: The story of a Song Perennial

Guest article by N Venkataraman to celebrate 70th Anniversary of the Republic

(During our days of innocence we learnt in the school that ‘Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He’ was our ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Vande Mataram’  was our ‘National Song’, both of  equal reverence, and we sung both with equal fervour on special occasions.

When we grew up and became more ‘knowledgeable’, we learnt that both the songs had controversy dogging them right since they were created. ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was said to have been written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911 in the honour of the British King George V on the occasion of his visit to India, and ‘Vande Mataram’  occurring in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s 19th century novel, ‘Anandamath’, was said to have religious overtones, which might offend the sensibilities of the minority community.

This controversy carried on right through the sessions of the Indian National Congress and, later, Constituent Assembly debates when question as to the declaration of a National Anthem came up. There were strong voices in favour of ‘Vande Mataram’ – as a matter of fact the Constituent Assembly session on 14 August 1947, which is famous for Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ at the midnight, began at 11 pm with singing of this song.  However, the hesitation to take a final call continued.  Finally, right on the last day, i.e. 24 January 1950, at the time of signing of the copies of the Constitution, the President Rajendra Prasad made a statement that ‘Jana Gana Mana’ shall be the National Anthem and “Vande Mataram, which has played an important part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and shall have equal status with it.”

Today we are again at troubled times because of the sectarian fault lines. As the Indian Republic turns 70,  we wish all the best for our country and its people. To celebrate the occasion, N Venkataraman  writes a scholarly article on the National Song ‘Vande Mataram’. As per the policy of this blog to steer clear of contentious political issues, Venkataramanji has put the focus specially on its rich musical history.

This article has long been in the making. A keen follower and the creator of the mega-series ‘Multiple Version Songs’, Ashok M Vashnav was also contemplating to write on different versions of ‘Vande Mataram’,  but happily passed it up when he came to know that Venkataramnji was at it. I am happy that despite his personal difficulties and other commitments, he has been able to complete it on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Republic Day, which happens to be in the 10th year of this blog. Thanks a lot Venkataramanji. – AK)

Let me backtrack to my early childhood days, a nostalgic trip down the memory lane. At the break of the dawn, as the activities of the house started, I would wake up to the Akashwani signature tune followed by VANDE MATARAM on the National Echo radio-set placed on the shelf of our living room (then it was my bedroom too). It took a minute for the vacuum tube valves to start up and the green magic eye to glow. Initially only a crackling sound could be heard before the station came on air. If I remember right it was 6:00 AM, I have no doubt that most of us and many more woke up to a new dawn listening to the Akashvani signature tune and ‘Vande Mataram’. And that was my first acquaintance with this song.

Before I proceed, a few words about the composition of the signature tune and the song Vande Mataram, played on AIR, may not be out of place. Many of us may know that Walter Kaufman composed the signature tune of AIR, but there is a difference of opinion over the composer of Vande Mataram played by AIR every morning.

Walter Kaufman did compose the AIR signature tune but not as a signature tune. In fact, it was an extract from a sonata commissioned by Mehli Mehta the well-known violinist who later became the first violinist of the Halle Orchestra in Manchester. He was the father of Zubin Mehta. Mehli Mehta played the violin for the signature tune. Walter Kaufman, born in 1907 was a German-Jew from Karlsbad, then in Bohemia (today’s Czech Republic). He left Berlin in 1933 for safer Prague and was known as a musician with great instinct. In 1934 he left for Bombay which was to be his home for next 12 years. Soon he landed a job at the AIR in Bombay (1935) and it was then that the signature tune was composed using the Tanpura and Violin.

Some are of the opinion that the composer of Vande Mataram played on the AIR could be either Pandit Ravi Shankar or Jnanprakash Ghosh. Jnanprakash Ghosh’s adopted son denies that his father composed the tune. Pandit Ravi Shankar did work for AIR then, but his name can be ruled out because his detailed autobiography has no mention of it, whereas he has dwelt at length on his tune for Saare Jahaan Se Achchha. Some say it could be Pannalal Ghosh or even Vijay Raghav Rao. Hope Shri Sharad Dutt can provide us with some definite information.

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838–1894) wrote his famous song Vande Mataram on the 7th of November 1875, in Kanthalpada, Naihati in the district of 24 Parganas, (West) Bengal. Vande Mataram was made part of the novel ‘Anandamath’ written by him. Anandamath was his 12th novel out of the 14 he wrote. The novel was first published as a serial in the magazine Bangadarshan (a Bengali literary magazine founded by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) from March-April 1880 to May-June 1882. Later it was published in the form of a book in 1882. The novel was based on the ‘Sannyasi Rebellion’ and the Great Bengal famine of the late 18th century. Besides various official documents, Bankim Chandra also relied on WW Hunter’s ‘Annals of Rural Bengal’ (1868) and Rev. GR Glieg’s ‘Memoirs of the life of the Right Hon. Warren Hastings’ (1841), in writing the novel. Vande Mataram was written almost six years before Anandamath.

Vande Mataram is 145 years old. That the song has survived that long says a lot about its relevance in modern India. Since its creation Vande Mataram has been a song mired in controversies during different periods of history. This song was the prime mover in the establishment of Bengal/Indian Nationalism. It gave rise to a strange ripple all over the country. Such instances are rare in a nation’s history. Rarely has a song given rise to such a diverse array of descriptions or been the subject of controversy over such a long period of time. Glorified by many as the last word in patriotic fervour, criticized as vehemently by others for its religious rhetoric, translated into English by Aurobindo Ghosh, also translated into all major Indian languages, set to music by icons as disparate as Rabindranath Tagore and AR Rehman, rendered by many Hindustani classical musicians and by Pundit Vishnu Digamabar Paluskar for years at the conventions of the Indian National Congress, so on and so forth, Vande Mataram continues to hold an indelible place in the national psyche.

It is often said that Rabindranath Tagore was the first person to set music for Vande Mataram and he was the first person to render it at the 1896 Congress session. But, It is interesting to note what Aurobindo Mazumdar wrote in his book ‘Vande Mataram and Islam’ that the process of highlighting the song appeared to have started even before the completion of the serial version of the novel. The final version of the novel appeared in the ‘Bangadarshan’ of the Jyeshta 1289 of the Bengali Calendar (May-June 1882). Siris Chandra Majumdar, a Deputy Magistrate and a close associate of Rabindranath, records that at a meeting of a literary society in the month of Chaitra 1288 (March-April 1882) at which Bankim Chandra himself was present, the song Vande Mataram was sung, before the speaker began to deliver his piece. If this is an accurate record of dates and events, then this is a remarkable fact. For it means that the song and the expression Vande Mataram were assuming a public – though not necessarily a political – profile even as the novel was getting completed serially. The song itself appears fairly early in the story and the expression Vande Mataram occurs several times as a watchword/slogan well before the conclusion of the narrative. In May 1885 issue of the Journal ‘Baalak’, produced by Tagore household for children, the song appeared with a full-page drawing purporting to represent the song’s sentiments (bhaav).

It is believed that Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay learnt music from Jadunath Bhattacharya (Pandit Jadu Bhatt). But he did not compose the music for Vande Mataram. It is said that the song was set to tune by Pandit Jadunath Bhattacharya (1840-83) from Bhatpara (another locality near Naihati, whose chief inhabitants were Bhattacharyas). It was most likely set in Malhaar Raag, Kaoali Taal, but unfortunately that melody is long lost. There is a footnote in Anandamath, in the first edition of ‘Bankim Rachanavali’ (collected works of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) that the song is in Malhaar Raag, Kaoali Taal. Even when the song first appeared in ‘Bangadarshan’, there was footnote indicating that its mode was Malhar. Thus we can speculate that Pandit Jadunath Bhattacharya was the first person to compose music for Vande Mataram.

The Indian National Congress (INC) was established in the year 1885, three years after Anandamath was written. Almost a decade had elapsed since Vande Mataram was penned. The song was not rendered in the first session of INC. But in the second session held in Calcutta in 1886, the opening song rendered would rouse the curiosity and interest of many. Hem Chandra Bandyopadhyay (1838-1903), a well-known poet of his times, incorporated exactly the first two stanzas, which would later become the National Song of India. Thus the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram were sung for the first time at an INC Session in 1886. Hem Chandra Bandyopadhyay is considered to be one the best poets during the time gap between Michael Madhusudan Dutta and Rabindranath Tagore.

In the 1896 session of the INC held at Calcutta, Rabindranath sang the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram on 28th December. It is believed that he had composed the music for the two stanzas much earlier, when Bankim Chandra was alive and had the opportunity to render it in his presence. The music for the rest of the song was composed by Sarala Devi; a niece of Rabindranath. It is interesting to note that both Hem Chandra Bandyopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore had selected the same stanzas for composition and rendition. Dakshina Charan Sen sang it five years later in 1901 at another session of the Congress at Calcutta. Sarala Devi Chaudhurani sang the song in the Benares Congress Session in 1905.

Most probably, in the year 1904-05, the first gramophone record in Rabindranath Tagore’s voice came in the market. Given its growing popularity it is no surprise that early recording companies like H Bose Records and the Nicole Record Company recorded it in the voice of Rabindranath Tagore and several others. In the meantime after the Barisal session of the INC (1906), the singing of Vande Mataram was banned. In 1907 the police destroyed the factory and the existing stock of records. However a few copies of the disc survived in Belgium and Paris (where Pathe /H Bose records were pressed). Thus some of the recordings of Vande Mataram by Rabindranath Tagore and others survived for posterity. Rabindranath’s version was the oldest recording of Vande Mataram available on a gramophone record.

Let us listen to a chorus version of this song, to get the real feel of Rabindranath’s composition. Sarala Devi wrote down the notation of the song. In an 78 RPM disc issued in 1950, (according to some it was recorded in 1945), Vande Mataram was sung in a chorus by Debabrata Biswas, Jaganmoy Mitra, Dwijen Choudhary, Niharbindu Sen, Suchitra Mukhopadhyay (Mitra) , Kanak Das (Biswas), Supreeti Ghosh and Geeta Naha (Sen). Anadi Ghosh Dastidar conducted the music for this recording. There are very rare occasions when we find such stalwarts forming as part of a chorus.

During the period between 1905 and 1920, many Bengali composers and singers were setting the song to a variety of tunes, due to its steady popularity. Records under different labels were pressed in the voice of Narayan Chandra Mukherjee, Babu Surendra Nath Banerjee, Desh Das, Satya Bhushan Gupta, Hem Chandra Sen, Harendra Nath Dutt and others. The versions of Narayan Chandra Mukherjee, Satya Bhushan Gupta, and Harendra Nath Dutta are available for listening. Here is the full version of Vande Mataram rendered and recorded by Harendra Nath Dutta in the year 1920.

In 1919, the Rowlatt Act was passed by the British colonial government that sought to strangle personal and public freedom by stipulating a series of draconian measures. There were spontaneous and widespread agitations against the oppressive Rowlatt Act. The government action to quell all opposition culminated in the infamous Jallianwala Massacre in Amritsar on April 13, 1919, in which several hundred non-violent protestors were killed and wounded. That was over 100 years ago, a time when millions of Indians irrespective of caste, creed and gender, took part in anti-colonial protests. Practitioners of Hindustani classical music also participated in the national movement, primarily by lending their voices to songs of nationalism and anti-colonialism. A classic example of one such song was Vande Mataram.

In Maharashtra, several singers essayed their own versions of the poem. Here are some examples. In the 1920s, Savlaramboa Shejval used to lead school children in Mumbai’s Crawford Market area in a morning prayer-march. He would sing patriotic songs to them, including Vande Mataram. Around 1928, he cut a disc on Viel-O-Phone label in Raag Kalingada, the late night Raag. Earlier in 1910, he had recorded Vande Mataram in the same Raag in Phon-O-Phone Record. Here is a 47 second clipping of his rendition.

https://soundcloud.com/scroll-in/savlaramboa-shejval

Vishnupant Pagnis (1892-1943), actor-singer, most famous for his role of Tukaram in Prabhat Film’s ‘Sant Tukaram’ (1936), cut a gramophone disc of the song in 1928. Sung in a loud, clear voice, he changed the order of the stanzas in the original text. Probably he did it wilfully, perhaps to mark his dissent to the decision of the Indian National Congress of not using the last verses of this song. The tune was based on Raag Sarang.

Another music director of Prabhat Films, Keshavrao Bhole (1896-1967) recorded the song on the Odeon label in 1935. His tune was in Raag Deshkar, the early morning melody, with bursts of taans that exhibits his mastery and technique.

https://soundcloud.com/scroll-in/keshavrao-bhole-raga-deshkar-1938

Yet another name to get associated with the song was Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931).He used to sing the song at the Congress Sessions since 1915. On one occasion, Paluskar was travelling and was not sure whether he would reach the venue of the Congress convention in time to sing. He had someone get in touch with Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, who had a concert in a nearby city, to request him to sing the song. Khan Saheb was not averse to rendering the song at the said congress session and readily agreed, but added, “This is Paluskarji’s forte and right. I will sing it only if he can’t make it.” In the end Paluskar did arrive in time to sing it. Perhaps the year was 1923. At the Kakinada Congress Session he was about to start the recital of Vande Mataram, as per the usual convention. Just when he was about to start, the presiding authority of the Congress, Maulana Ahmed Ali tried to stop him, supported by his brother Shaukat Ali. Reacting very strongly Pandit Paluskar refused to abide by their request and thereafter rendered the full song. He had composed the song in Raag Kafi. Pandit Paluskar shined on the Indian political scenario, especially after this particular incident associated with Vande Mataram.

Later, his student, Pandit Omkarnath Thakur (1897-1967), took over and also chose to sing it in Kafi, but added the word Bangiya (बंगीय) to the name of the Raag, referring to Bengal, from where the poem originated. When the Congress Committee decided to truncate the poem to only its first few lines, Pandit Omkarnath Thakur refused to sing at the Congress’s annual sessions. But he made it a practice to sing the full Vande Mataram at the end of his concerts. Paluskar did not cut any gramophone discs, but Omkarnath Thakur’s commercial recording is available and he has sung it in very slow tempo, without percussion accompaniment, and only the haunting notes of a tanpura in the background. Later in 1947, Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel invited him to sing it at the dawn of Independence. And thereby, on the 15th of August 1947, at 6:30 a.m. the country could hear the deep voice of Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, reciting the unabridged, full version of India’s National Song Vande Mataram broadcasted by AIR. Let us listen to one of the most popular classical versions of this song.

In 1937, in many regions of the British India, the Congress came to power during a brief colonial experiment in granting a measure of autonomy to the provinces. At this time, in deference to Muslim sensitivities, the government banned Vande Mataram from being aired on the radio. The musician and singer Master Krishnarao Phulambrikar (1898-1974), a disciple of Bhaskar Buwa Bakhale (1869-1922), protested against this ban for several years, declining to sing for the radio. In 1947 on Gudi Padva, the Maharashtrian New Year, Master Krishnarao as he was called, gave a radio concert that concluded with Vande Mataram. Master Krishnarao was also associated closely with Marathi musical theatres and films. Here, he sings Vande Mataram in a self-composed tune based on the Bilawal that. The orchestra plays in unison with the vocalist and restates the first line in the interlude.

https://gaana.com/song/vande-mataram-5-1

Master Krishnarao also composed it in Raga Kafi, Raga Jhinjhoti and a chorus and a band version too. VD Ambhaikar of Mumbai, a musician of repute, made similar efforts. He composed several versions of Vande Mataram in different ragas. He spent most of his life in popularizing these tunes and formed ‘Vande Mataram chorus Party’ for this purpose.  At the insistence of Dr BR Ambedkar he cut three records in 1948.

It is believed that Hirabai Barodekar also rendered it on AIR Delhi in Raga Tilak Kamod on 15th August 1947, but that recording is not available so far. Ambhaikar was asked to cut a version with a female voice. That’s how the recording by Mogubai Kurdikar, the mother of Kishori Amonkar, came to be released commercially. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar wanted it to be recorded in the voice of Kesarbai Kerkar. However, she refused to record the song, and finally the record was cut in the voice of Mogubai Kurdikar in Raag Khambavati.  Her version is similar to that of VD Ambhaikar and her rendition gives a serene feeling.

Sister Nivedita introduced singing of the song Vande Mataram in her school as a prayer. It is believed that, before India achieved Independence, music director Timir Baran Bhattacharya set the song to music in Raga Durga at the request of Subhas Chandra Bose in the style of a marching song. When Netaji formed the Azad Hind Fauj, he had Vande Mataram played by Singapore Radio. Here is a version of the song composed by Timir Baran recorded after Independence and rendered by Supriti Ghosh, Roma Mukerjee, Jaganmoy Mitra, Bechu Dutta & Chorus. This record was made by Megaphone Company in 1947 in association with Ananda Bazar & Hindustan Standard,

Let me explore the use of the slogan Vande Mataram and the song in movies.

Much before the advent of the silent films, Hiralal Sen made India’s first political film in 1905 which ended with the chant Vande Mataram. I could trace the first use of the phrase in the title of a silent movie in the year 1926, ‘Vande Mataram Ashram’. It was a silent movie produced by Bhajli Pendharkar with his brother Baburao Pendharkar. The film was censored and briefly banned, but cleared after the objectionable scenes were deleted. Interestingly the name of the production company too was Vande Mataram Film Co.

The first use of the song Vande Mataram could be traced back to a Bengali film ‘Bande Mataram’, released in 1935. It was a chorus version set to tune by Sukerti Sen. The song was recorded by Senola Records, however I could not find it in the YT or elsewhere.

In 1939 Bommireddi Narasimha Reddy produced a Telugu film ‘Vande Mataram’. Though the film’s title was Vande Mataram, the film was set in a domestic narrative with a nationalist twist. I believe this was the first picture to appear under the Vauhini Films banner. Vauhini in South India had the same prestige and popularity as the New Theatres in Bengal and Prabhat in Western India. Chittor V Nagaiah who acted in the film was also the music director of this film.

After independence, the first film carrying the title ‘Vande Mataram’ was again from Maharashtra under the Nav Jhankar Picture banner. The story was based on India’s freedom movement. The script, dialogue and lyrics for the film was by the renowned writer GD Madgulkar, directed by Ram Gabale who later assisted in the making of Sir Richard Attenborough’s Oscar-award winner Gandhi (1982) and the music was composed by the stalwart composer Sudhir Phadke. The legendary Marathi writer and playwright PL Deshpande and his wife Sunita were in the lead roles. The nationalist project was released only a year after independence and presented narratives woven with patriotism and humanism. It is an interesting coincidence that we just had the birth centenary years of the stalwart trio Sudhir Phadke (25 July 1919 – 29 July 2002), Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar (1 October 1919 – 14 December 1977) and Purushottam Lal Deshpande (8 November 1919 – 12 June 2000). It is also another coincidence that a rare footage of the iconic Marathi film ‘Vande Mataram’ (1948) was found in 2019 and handed over to the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) by Deshpande’s nephew Dinesh Thakur and film historian Satish Jakatdar.

As a mark of tribute to the legendary trio on their birth centenary year and also as a salutation to the iconic song, I am posting the song ‘Ved Mantrahun Vandya Vande Mataram’. Readers must have noticed that I have borrowed the title of the post from this song.

Ved mantrahun amhan vandya Vande Mataram by Sudhir Phadke, Malti Pande & chorus from Marathi film Vande Mataram (1948), lyrics GD Madgulkar, music Sudhir Phadke

The phrase Vande Mataram has been used as a refrain by many song writers. Salil Choudhury penned and composed a song for AIR. The song rendered by Dwijen Mukherjee and Sabita Choudhury starts with the refrain ‘Sujalaam sufalaam malayaja sheetalaam’. We can find non-film versions of Vande Mataram set to music by music directors like Gyan Dutt, Vasant Desai to AR Rehman. My next presentation is a non-film version rendered by Geeta Dutt, Pramodini Patkar, and GM Durrani, set to music by Gyan Dutt and recorded by HMV in 1950.

The first motion picture after Independence to carry the song Vande Mataram was the Hindi film ‘Amar Asha’ in the year 1947, directed by VM Vyas and produced under the Sunrise Pictures banner. Shanti Kumar was the music director.

In 1951, ‘Ananda Math’ was produced in Bengali under the Neo Screen Plays Ltd. Banner and directed by Satish Dasgupta. This was the first time Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Anandamath was made into a film. The music was composed by Subal Dasgupta, brother of Kamal Dasgupta. Here is the link to the song which includes some dialogue from 01:42 to 03:10.

In the same year, the Hindi film ‘Aandolan’, directed by Phani Majumdar under the banner of Motewane Productions, carried the song. A nationalistic story of India’s freedom struggle, presented through the experiences of a Bengali family from 1885, when the Indian National Congress was established to 1947. The film was made at Bombay Talkies; Kishore Kumar plays the militant hero of this quasi-documentary. Pannalal Ghosh composed the song for this film. Presenting the song rendered by Sudha Malhotra, Parul Ghosh & Manna Dey.

‘Biyallish’ (1949) produced and directed by Nabendu Gupta, gave a detailed account of India’s restless period of 1942. It was a significant phase in Indian history when both armed and non-violent Quit India movements hit back the British rulers hard. This film is a poignant account of Indian freedom fighters confronting a police officer who represents the autocracy of the British Government. Bikash Roy’s terrific display as the main antagonist enraged the audience so much that the actor had feared for his own safety after ‘Biyallish’ was released. We can find Vande Mataram as a slogan in this film.

After ‘Biyallish’, we find the trio Hemen Gupta, Hemanta Mukherjee (Hemant Kumar) and Pradeep Kumar together again in the iconic Hindi film ‘Ananda Math’ produced in 1952 by Filmistan. The film was also dubbed in Tamil and released in 1953. This was Hemant Kumar’s first Hindi film as a music director. According to Hemant Kumar, the Lata’s version was approved by Hemen Gupta after twenty one takes. Presenting the most popular version of the Vande Mataram rendered by Lata Mangeshkar

In my first part I have primarily concentrated on the classical versions, because these versions coincide with the freedom movement particularly from the 1920s. And in the second part I have tried to give some insight on the use of the song and the slogan Vande Mataram in films. Beyond 1952 there are several film and non-film versions. We can also find the song and the expression in many Indian language films. I have tried to do a decent job to the best of my ability. And there is a lot that I might not have covered. I am sure my co-bloggers will fill up the deficiencies and come up with more information and versions.

Bringing the selection of songs and the post to a close with a rendition of the song by Dilip Kumar Roy and M S Subbalakshmi.

Acknowledgements:
1. Bankim Rachanavali, Volume 1 & 2, Sahitya Sansad
2. Bankim Rachanavali, Upanyas Samagraha, Tuli Kalam
3. Vande Mataram, the Biography of a Song by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Primus Books
4. Vande Mataram and Islam by Aurobindo Majumdar, A Mittal Publication
5. ‘Vande Mataram: A most popular and evergreen Indian song’ by Suresh Chandvankar, Hon. Secretary, Society of Indian Record Collectors, Mumbai, mustrad.org.uk
6. Vande Mataram @ 78 RPM by AkhileshJha, millenniumpost.in
7. Articles from Scroll.in- Arindam Dey (AFP), Krishna Kumar (Wikimedia Commons), Ranjit (Flickr.com), Rajkumar (Flickr.com)
8. Maddys Ramblings – Maddy’s blog
9. All India Radio (Akashvani), Soundcloud.com, Youtube.com, Saavn.com

Disclaimer: The song links have been embedded from YouTube only for the listening pleasure of music lovers. This blog acknowledges that the copyright over the songs rests with the original owners such as Saregama India Limited and other respective owners.

My sincere request of forgiveness to those sources whom/ which I might have inadvertently missed to acknowledge here.