Jana Gana Mana

"Jana Gana Mana" is the National Anthem of India. The National Anthem is set primarily in Bengali, it is comprehensible to almost every Indian because of its strong Sanskrit flavour. While it is well known that the first stanza is a tribute to the astonishing geographical diversity of India, the second is a tribute to its multiple communities and the remaining are a salutation to India's undying spirit. Jana Gana Mana was first sung at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress on December 27 1911. Yes, you read that right, our National Anthem is 100 years today!! Jana Gana Mana was officially adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the Indian National Anthem on January 24 1950.


To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Sri. Rabindranath Tagore in 2010, the leading English newspaper The Times of India had launched a campaign called "Jaya Hey". The truth it is that not many know of the remaining four stanzas that make up the National Anthem. These four verses were set to music and produced by the music label Saregama. The music for the video has been composed by Soumyojit Das and Sourendro Malik. The music video was launched two nights before 15th August 2010 by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.


The meaning of the National Anthem in this inspiring music video is narrated by Harshavardhan Neotia while it features 39 of India's best loved singers from across the country from Hindustani classical musicians like Girija Devi, Pandit Jasraj and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma to Carnatic singers like Dr. S. Nithyasree Mahadevan and Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, from playback singers like Kavita Krishnamurthy to Sonu Nigam, from ghazal singer Jagjit Singh to folk singers like Lopamudra Mitra and Lakhandas Baul singing lines from the anthem.