Monday, April 2, 2012

Jana Gana Mana - Indian National Anthem

Jana Gana Mana" (Bengali: জন গণ মন, Hindi: जन गण मन) is the national anthem of India. Written in highly Sanskritized (Tatsama) Bengali, it is the first of five stanzas of a Brahmo hymn composed and scored by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It was first sung at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress on 27 December 1911. "Jana Gana Mana" was officially adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the Indian national anthem on January 24, 1950. 27 December 2011 marked the completion of 100 years of Jana Gana Mana since it was sung for the first time.
A formal rendition of the national anthem takes fifty-two seconds. A shortened version consisting of the first and last lines (and taking about 20 seconds to play) is also staged occasionally. Tagore wrote down the English translation of the song and along with Margaret Cousins (an expert in European music and wife of Irish poet James Cousins), set down the notation at Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh, which is followed till this day. Amar Shonar Bangla, another poem by Tagore, is the national anthem of Bangladesh.

Bengali scriptBengali phonemic transcriptionNLK transliteration
জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে.
ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা
পঞ্জাব সিন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা
দ্রাবিড় উৎ‍‌কল বঙ্গ
বিন্ধ্য হিমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা
উচ্ছল জলধি তরঙ্গ
তব শুভ নামে জাগে
তব শুভ আশিস মাগে
গাহে তব জয়গাথা
জনগণমঙ্গলদায়ক জয় হে
ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা
জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে,
জয় জয় জয়, জয় হে॥

Translation into English

The following translation, attributed to Tagore, is provided by the Government of India's national portal:
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Shindhu,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orisa and Bangla;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Ocean.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
victory forever.
This English translation by Tagore is known as The Morning Song of India and continues for four more stanzas

Musical Composition and English Translation


Courtyard in Madanapalle where Jana Gana Mana was first sung.
Rabindranath Tagore translated "Jana Gana Mana" from Bengali to English and also set it to music in Madanapalle,[5] a town located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh state, India. Though the Bengali song had been written in 1911, it was largely unknown except to the readers of the Brahmo Samaj journal, Tatva Bodha Prakasika, of which Tagore was the editor.
During 1919, Tagore accepted an invitation from friend and controversial Irish poet James H. Cousins to spend a few days at the Besant Theosophical College situated at Madanapalle of which Cousins was the principal. On the evening of February 28, 1919 he joined a gathering of students and upon Cousins' request, sang the Jana Gana Mana in Bengali. The college authorities, greatly impressed by the lofty ideals of the song and the praise to God, selected it as their prayer song. In the days that followed, enchanted by the dreamy hills of Madanapalle, Tagore wrote down the English translation of the song and along with Cousins' wife, Margaret (an expert in Western music), set down the notation which is followed till this day. The song was carried beyond the borders of India by the college students and became The Morning Song of India and subsequently the national anthem.
Today, in the library of Besant Theosophical College in Madanapalle, the framed original English translation of Jana gana Mana, titled as The Morning Song of India in Tagore's handwriting, is displayed

Controversies

The poem was composed in December 1911, welcoming and honouring King George V at the time of the Coronation Durbar of George V, in praise of King George V. The way it is written leaves no doubt in the mind of a lay man thet the song has been written in praise of some one. Tagore however translated "Jana Gana Mana" in English as the Morning Song of India, addressing God and the motherland in it. For a more detailed discussion on the controversy, see Jana Gana Mana (the complete song).
Jônogônomono-odhinaeoko jôeô he
Bharotobhaggobidhata
Pônjabo Shindhu Gujoraṭo Môraṭha
Drabiṛo Utkôlo Bônggo
Bindho Himachôlo Jomuna Gôngga
Uchchhôlo jôlodhi toronggo
Tôbo shubho name jage
Tôbo shubho ashish mage
Gahe tôbo jôeogatha
Jônogônomonggolodaeoko jôeô he
Bharotobhaggobidhata
Jôeo he, jôeo he, jôeo he,
jôeo jôeo jôeo, jôeo he
Jana gaṇa mana adhināyaka jaya he
Bhārata bhāgya vidhātā
Pañjāb Sindhu Gujarāṭa Marāṭhā
Drāviḍa Utkala Vaṅga
Vindhya Himāchala Jamunā Gaṅgā
Uchhala jaladhi taraṅga
Tava śubha nāme jāge
Taba śubha āśhiṣa māge
Gāye tava jaya gāthā
Jana gaṇa maṅgala dhāyaka jaya he
Bhārata bhāgya vidhāta
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he