“Jana Gana Mana” is the national anthem of India. It was written in highly Sanskritised Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore.
It was only on 24th January 1950 that this song was officially declared as India's national anthem. An earlier poem by Tagore (Amar Sonar Bangla) was later selected as the national anthem of Bangladesh.
Hindi Translation
जनगणमन-अधिनायक जय हे भारतभाग्यविधाता!
पंजाब सिन्धु गुजरात मराठा द्राविड़ उत्कल बंग
विन्ध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा उच्छलजलधितरंग
तव शुभ नामे जागे, तव शुभ आशिष मांगे,
गाहे तव जयगाथा।
जनगणमंगलदायक जय हे भारतभाग्यविधाता!
जय हे, जय हे, जय हे, जय जय जय जय हे।।
English Translation
The following translation, attributed directly 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, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Odisha and Bengal; 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 Sea.
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, victory, victory to thee.
Jana Gana Mana was written on 11 December 1911. Rabindranath Tagore translated the song from Bengali to English and also set it to music in Madanapalle, a town located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradeshstate (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.
Vande Mataram is a poem from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1882 novel Anandamath as adopted as the national song of India because the song Vande Mataram has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, so it is honoured equally with Jana Gana.
All of us have sung the national anthem and since school, stood up every time we heard it.
