Vande Mataram

Rabindranath Tagore sang 'Vande Mataram' in 1896 at the Calcutta (Kolkata) Congress Session and poet Sarala Devi Chaudurani sang 'Vande Mataram' in the Benares Congress Session in 1905. The English translation of Vande Mataram rendered by Shree Aurobindo, is considered to be the "official" and best.

While Vande Mataram was treated as the national anthem of India for long, ultimately ‘Jana Gana Mana’, was chosen as the national anthem of independent India. The song was rejected on the grounds that Muslims felt offended by its depiction of the nation as ‘Ma Durga’, a Hindu goddess.
indianewshub.com...

[edit on 5-10-2006 by muralidhar]