The Vande Mataram commemoration begins

November 10, 2025

Abhishek Vij

Countries, religions, and communities that forget their cultural pride become disarmed. India has two inspiring songs: one is the national song and the other is the national anthem. Our country’s national song is Vande Mataram. This inspiring song has a history of 150 years. In these 150 years, Vande Mataram has resonated with every sacrifice made by our country’s revolutionaries and freedom fighters in their fight for independence. Bhavananda sang this song in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s historical novel, Anand Math, in which this national song is written.

Whenever the sacrifices of revolutionaries, from Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar, are remembered, Vande Mataram resonates in our hearts. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was of the opinion that Vande Mataram should be made the national anthem. However, when politics began to arise over some of its lyrics in 1937, the national anthem became Jana Gana Mana. However, the Bengali song “Vande Mataram” embodies such a tradition of sacrifice that the country cannot ignore it.

Vande Mataram continues to resonate with every citizen of the country. 150 years have passed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it is the right time to celebrate the completion of a year with the national anthem, so that every citizen of the country is imbued with a national spirit and inspired to dedicate themselves to the nation. The Prime Minister pointed out that politics has done great injustice to the national song Vande Mataram, but because we have to make this century and all the centuries to come centuries of India, we have embraced this national anthem for the entire year. This song will teach us to believe in ourselves for centuries to come.

The President of the country, Her Excellency Draupadi Murmu, also conveyed the message of bowing before this song. Mother India has millions of hands and millions of sons, so how can she be weak? The Prime Minister stated that today Mother India has 1.4 billion children, 2.8 billion arms. More than half of these are young, so why should we be afraid? Vande Mataram is with us to inspire us. Today is the right time to embrace this spirit of Vande Mataram. This spirit is essential for making the country self-reliant.

Our country is powerful. This strength has been given to it by national songs like Vande Mataram. The President described it as a symbol of the emotional consciousness and unity of the people. We believe that, during the year-long commemoration, if the entire country and its people of different religions accept this national song in the same spirit with which it was written, it will be a great achievement. Currently, the Vande Mataram commemoration has begun across the country, from Jammu and Kashmir to Kanyakumari. We won’t get into the debate about whether any prominent leader removed verses from the song. Whenever Vande Mataram is heard, the hearts of young people vibrate with patriotism.

If this inspiration empowers young people to rise and confront problems like unemployment, inflation, corruption, and bureaucracy, this would be true commemoration. We have previously honored our country’s national symbols with celebrations. The Vande Mataram commemoration should be celebrated in the same tradition.