National Anthem
The song
"Jana-gana-mana", composed by Rabindranath Tagore, was
adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the national anthem of
India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December
1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.
The complete song consists of five stanzas. The First stanza
consists of the full version of the National Anthem. It reads:
Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya
he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Punjaba-Sindhu-Gujarata-Maratha
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga.
Tava shubha name jage,
Tava shubha asisa 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!
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Playing time of the full version of the
national anthem is approximately 52 seconds. A short version
consisting of first and last lines of the stanza (playing time
approximately 20 seconds) is also played on certain occasions.
The following is Tagore's English rendering of this stanza:
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 Orissa and Bengal;
It
echoes in the hills of the Vindyas 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.
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CLICK HERE FOR SOUND CLIP
OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
National Emblem
The national emblem of India is a replica of
the Lion at Sarnath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Lion
Capital was erected in the third century BC by Emperor Ashoka
to mark the spot where the Buddha first proclaimed his gospel
of peace and emancipation. The national emblem is thus
symbolic of contemporary India's reaffirmation of its ancient
commitment to world peace and goodwill.
The four lions
(one hidden from view), symbolising power, courage and
confidence, rest on a circular abacus. The abacus is girded by
four smaller animals, that are considered guardians of the
four directions: the lion of the north, the elephant of the
east, the horse of the south and the bull of the west. The
abacus rests on a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the
fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. The motto
'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the emblem in
Devanagari script means 'truth alone triumphs'.
National Flag
The Indian flag was designed as a symbol of
freedom. The late Prime Minister Nehru called it "a flag not
only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom to all
people."
The flag is a horizontal tricolour in equal
proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and
dark green at the bottom. The ratio of the width to the length
of the flag is 2:3. In the centre of the white band, there is
a wheel in navy blue to indicate the Dharma Chakra, the
wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. Its diameter
approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes.
The saffron stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of
renunciation; the white, for purity and truth; and the green
for faith and fertility.
National Animal - Tiger
The large Asiatic carnivorous feline
quadruped, Panthera tigris, maneless, of tawny yellow
colour with blackish transverse stripes and white belly,
proverbial for its power and its magnificence, is the national
animal of India.
There are very few tigers left in the
world today. A decade ago the tiger population in India had
dwindled to a few hundreds. The Government of India, under its
Project Tiger programme, started a massive effort to preserve
the tiger population. Today, thanks to Project Tiger, India's
population of tigers is in a comfortable position.
National Bird - Peacock
The male bird of species Pavo
cristatus, the peacock is a native of India, with striking
plumage and upper tail converts marked with iridescent ocelli,
and able to expand its tail erect like fan as ostentatious
display. Peacocks are related to pheasants.
Found wild
in India (and also domesticated in villages) they live in
jungle lands near water. They were once bred for food but now
hunting of peacocks is banned in India. The peahen has no
plumage. These birds do not sound as beautiful as they look -
they have a harsh call.
National Flower - Lotus
The lotus or waterlily is an aquatic plant of
Nymphaea family with broad floating leaves and bright fragrant
flowers that grow only in shallow waters. The leaves and
flowers float and have long stems that contain air spaces. The
big attractive flowers have many petals overlapping in a
symmetrical pattern. The root functions are carried out by
rhizomes that fan out horizontally through the mud below the
water. Lotuses, prized for their serene beauty, are delightful
to behold as their blossoms open on the surface of a pond. In
India the sacred lotus is legendary and much folklore and
religious mythology is woven around it.
National Tree - Banyan
The Banyan tree is the Indian fig tree, Ficus bengalensis, whose branches root themselves like
new trees over a large area. The roots then give rise to more
trunks an branches. Because of this characteristic and its
longevity, this tree is considered immortal and is an integral
part of the myths and legends of India. Even today, the banyan
tree is the focal point of village life and the village
council meets under the shade of this tree.
National Fruit - Mango
A fleshy fruit, eaten ripe or used green for
pickles, of the tree Mangifera indica, the mango is one
of the most important and widely cultivated fruits of the
tropical world. Its juicy fruit is a rich source of Vitamins
A, C and D. In India there are over 100 varieties of mangoes,
in different sizes, shapes and colours. Mangoes, have been
cultivated in India from time immemorial. The poet Kalidasa
sang its praises. Alexander savoured its taste, as did the
Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang. Akbar planted 100,000 mango trees
in Darbhanga, known as Lakhi Bagh.
Land and People
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