Jana Gana Mana (Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People) is the national anthem of India. It is the first of five stanzas of a poem by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, written in formal Bengali language. First performed in 1911, Jana Gana Mana was officially adopted as the national anthem in 1950. The musical score of the anthem was also created by Tagore listen (help·).

A formal rendition of the national anthem takes approximately 52 seconds. A short version consisting only the first and last lines takes about 20 seconds and is also played occasionally.

Creation

The poem, which was to become the national anthem, was composed in 1911 by Tagore in response to a request by the Indian National Congress. The request was made around the time that King George V was supposed to visit India, which was a colony of the United Kingdom at that time. While Tagore complied with the request, the truth behind the creation was later reprinted in the publication The Indian Express in 1968:

"He got up very early in the morning an wrote a very beautiful poem.. When he came down, he said to

Lyrics

Devanagari Text

जन गण मन अधिनायक जय हे
भारत भाग्य विधाता !
पंजाब सिंधु गुजरात मराठा
द्राविड़ उत्कल बंग
विंध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा
उच्छल जलधि तरंग
तव शुभ नामे जागे,
तव शुभ आशिस मागे,
गाहे तव जय गाथा ।
जन गण मंगलदायक जय हे
भारत भाग्य विधाता !
जय हे, जय हे, जय हे
जय जय जय जय हे ॥

Transliterated text

Jana-Gana-Mana-Adhinayaka, Jaya He
Bharata-Bhagya-Vidhata
Punjab-Sindhu-Gujarata-MarathaDravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchhala-Jaladhi Taranga
Tava Subha Name Jage
Tava Subha Ashisa Mage
Gahe Tava Jaya Gatha.
Jana-Gana-Mangala Dayaka, Jaya He
Bharata-Bhagya-Vidhata,
Jaya He, Jaya He, Jaya He,
Jaya Jaya Jaya, Jaya He

Bengali Text

জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
পঞ্জাব সিন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা দ্রাবিড় উত্‍‌কল বঙ্গ
বিন্ধ্য হিমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা উচ্ছলজলধিতরঙ্গ
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॥

English translation

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat and Maratha,of the Dravida and the Orissa (Utkala) and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganga 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.

Controversy

There was some controversy surrounding the appropriateness of this poem to be the national anthem of independent India. This poem was first sung during a convening of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta in December 27, 1911. Rabindranath Tagore had submitted the poem as a paean of India's divine destiny, and it was sung on the first day of the convening. The day after, a welcome was given to King George V on his visit to India. It was assumed thenceforth by many that it had been written for the King. However, Tagore is said to have written the poem in honour of God. In particular, given the great patriotism of Tagore, and his involvement in the freedom struggle, people are skeptical that the "protector" refers to the British monarch. Indeed, one of Tagore's greatest moments was his refusal of the British knighthood on grounds of the empire's immoral dealings in its rule of India, a title offered to him by none other than the king (George) about whom some feel Tagore was writing! But most definitive is Tagore's own statement about this, showing this allegation to be a myth:

In a letter to Pulin Behari Sen, Tagore later wrote, "A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense."

In 2005, there were calls for the deletion of the word "Sindh" and to substitute Kashmir in its stead. The argument was that Sindh was no longer a part of India (it became a part of Pakistan after Partition). However , the Supreme Court of India refused to tamper with the national anthem. Opponents of this proposal say that the word "Sindh" refers to the Indus or to the Sindhi culture and people who are an integral part of India's cultural fabric.

See also

• India
• Rabindranath Tagore
• Vande Mataram
• Jana Gana Mana Video

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