Vande Mataram

Vande Mataram ("I bow to thee, Mother") is the national song of India. It was composed in Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chatterji and appeared in his 1882 novel Anandamath. The song became a rallying cry of the freedom movement, sung at protests and gatherings across the country.

On 24 January 1950 the President of the Constituent Assembly, Dr Rajendra Prasad, announced that Vande Mataram would be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana. The first two stanzas are the ones generally sung.