Songs and poems helped the freedom struggle reach ordinary people. A song is easy to learn and easy to sing together. So crowds could march, protest and hope in one voice. This lesson follows Vande Mataram, regional poets, folk songs and the exam facts.
At a glance
| Song or poet | Language | Clue |
|---|---|---|
| Vande Mataram | Bengali, by Bankim | First published 1875; in Anandamath, 1882. |
| Bande Utkala Janani | Odia, by Kantakabi | Welcome song at Balasore session; now Odisha’s state song. |
| Swadeshi Kirtan | Gujarati | First collection of songs for group singing, 1909. |
| Songs From Prison | English, by Gandhi | Translations of devotional hymns and prayers from the Ashram Bhajanavali. |
- Patriotic song means a song that praises and unites the country.
- Prabhat pheri means a morning procession with songs.
- Swadeshi means made at home; it also means a movement of self-reliance.
- Kirtan means devotional group singing.
Why songs mattered
The freedom struggle produced a huge body of patriotic writing. It came in many Indian languages. Urdu poetry played a very big part. Some poems were banned by the British.
The Gandhian era saw a flood of patriotic songs. People sang them together at meetings and in protest marches. Many songs came from unnamed patriots, some of whom could not read.
So these songs show how ordinary people felt. Historians call this the history of the struggle “from below”.
Sources: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, volume 74 (1999) · Narang, India’s Freedom Struggle and the Urdu Poetry (for why songs mattered).
From a poem to a novel
Vande Mataram means “Mother, I bow to thee”. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee first published it in the journal Bangadarshan on 7 November 1875. It appeared as a standalone song in the March–April 1881 issue. Bankim later placed it inside his novel Anandamath, published in 1882.
The novel follows Sanyasins called Santanas, meaning children. They give their lives to the motherland. In their temple they placed three images of the Mother: the Mother that was, that is and that will be.
Vande Mataram is the song the Santanas sing. It stands for the “religion of patriotism”.
Sources: PIB: the story of Vande Mataram · PIB: Vande Mataram background (regional edition) · PIB: 150 years of Vande Mataram (for from a poem to a novel).
Check 1
Vande Mataram was first published in Bangadarshan in 1875.
A song becomes a slogan
Rabindranath Tagore set the song to music. He first sang it at the 1896 Congress session in Calcutta. Vande Mataram was first used as a political slogan on 7 August 1905. In October 1905 the Bande Mataram Sampradaya was founded in North Calcutta.
Its members sang the song on Sunday prabhat pheris. Tagore sometimes joined them. On 20 May 1906 a procession in Barisal drew over ten thousand Hindus and Muslims.
In August 1906 the English daily Bande Mataram began, under Bipin Chandra Pal. Sri Aurobindo later joined as joint editor. In 1907 Madam Bhikaji Cama raised a tricolour at Stuttgart with Vande Mataram written on it. The colonial government grew alarmed at the song’s rising influence.
Sources: PIB: the story of Vande Mataram · PIB: Vande Mataram background (regional edition) (for a song becomes a slogan).
Check 2
The 1906 Barisal procession of over ten thousand people had only Hindu participants.
Think it through: why could a song worry the government more than a speech?
A speech reaches those who hear it once.
A song is learned, repeated and carried home. Thousands can sing it at the same moment. That is why singing itself became an act of defiance.
National Song and National Anthem
On 24 January 1950 Dr Rajendra Prasad made a declaration in the Constituent Assembly. Vande Mataram was to be given equal honour with the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana. So the Song was honoured equally. It was declared, not adopted as the Anthem.
The Anthem is Jana Gana Mana.
Sources: PIB: 150 years of Vande Mataram · PIB: the story of Vande Mataram (for national song and national anthem).
Check 3
On 24 January 1950, Vande Mataram was adopted as the National Anthem.
Folk forms and Swadeshi Kirtan
Patriotic songs borrowed folk forms. Examples are rasdas, garba, bhajan, akhyan and pawda. In Gujarat the Gujarati Sahitya Sabha published Deshbhakti na Kavyo in 1905. It was the first collection of patriotic poems.
The Swadeshi Mitra Mandal of Ahmedabad was set up in 1906, after the Bengal Partition fervour. In 1909 it compiled Swadeshi Kirtan. This was the first collection of popular patriotic songs made for group singing.
A picture of Hind Devi was worshipped at such events. A patriotic song was lifted to the level of a bhajan.
Earlier Gujarati poets had paved the way. Narmad wrote “Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat”. Dalpatram’s 1851 poem showed economic nationalism.
Sources: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, volume 74 (1999) (for folk forms and swadeshi kirtan).
Check 4
Swadeshi Kirtan, the first collection of songs for group singing, was compiled in 1909.
Voices in many languages
Patriotism spoke in many tongues. Subramania Bharati wrote fiery verse in Tamil.
In Odisha, Kantakabi Lakshmikanta Mohapatra wrote Bande Utkala Janani. It was the welcome song at the Balasore session of the Utkal Sammilani. Today it has the status of Odisha’s state song.
His song on the charkha reflects Gandhian thought. His sisters mobilised women for Civil Disobedience. Urdu poets such as Iqbal and Josh Malihabadi urged people to throw off slavery.
Iqbal’s “Sare Jahan Se Achha” is dated 1904 in many textbooks. A Rajbhasha source gives 1905. Learn both, and mark the date as disputed.
Sagar Nizami wrote “Ay Watan Ay Watan”. Majaz wrote “Inqilab”. Hindi poets such as Maithilisharan Gupt, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan and Dinkar also wrote against social evils. Nanak Singh’s Khuni Baisakhi answered the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
In Kashmir, Mahjoor and Abdul Ahad Azad spread the spirit of freedom.
Sources: PIB: Kantakabi Lakshmikanta Mohapatra · Rajbhasha Vibhag, freedom-struggle literature · Narang, India’s Freedom Struggle and the Urdu Poetry (for voices in many languages).
Check 5
Bande Utkala Janani is linked with the Odia poet Kantakabi.
Bharati in Pondicherry
Bharati left for Pondicherry in 1908 to avoid arrest. Pondicherry was then a French colony. British police had no authority there. Sri Aurobindo reached Pondicherry too, on 4 April 1910, as a warrant was issued against him.
From there Bharati kept writing for his people. So a small foreign enclave became a safe place for banned writers.
Sources: Mother and Sri Aurobindo: Subramania Bharati (for bharati in pondicherry).
Songs from prison
Songs From Prison is a book of translations of devotional hymns and prayers. They come from the Ashram Bhajanavali, the prayer book of Gandhi’s ashram. John S. Hoyland adapted them for the 1934 English edition. The book has a Gandhi introduction on why music mattered to the movement.
Sources: Gandhi, Songs From Prison (for songs from prison).
Check 6
Songs From Prison is a book of Gandhi’s translations of ashram hymns and prayers.
How have exams tested this?
Exam trap
Vande Mataram was published in 1875 but entered Anandamath in 1882. The 1950 declaration gave the Song equal honour. It did not make it the Anthem. Iqbal’s famous song carries two dates in sources: 1904 and 1905.
Quick Q&A
- Who wrote Vande Mataram? Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
- Who first sang it at a Congress session? Rabindranath Tagore, in 1896.
- Where was the 1906 mass procession? Barisal.
- What did Swadeshi Kirtan collect? Songs for group singing.
- 1875: Vande Mataram in Bangadarshan.
- 1882: Anandamath.
- 1896: Tagore sings it at Congress.
- 24 Jan 1950: equal honour with the Anthem.
Current affairs: 150 years of Vande Mataram
150 years of Vande Mataram
The Union Cabinet approved nationwide celebrations on 1 October 2025. The year-long commemoration began on 7 November 2025 and runs until 7 November 2026. The Ministry of Culture held the inaugural ceremony at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi. A commemorative stamp and coin were released.
The song is believed to have been written on Akshaya Navami, which fell on 7 November 1875.
Sources: PIB: 150 years of Vande Mataram · PIB: the story of Vande Mataram (for 150 years of vande mataram).
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