Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a 90-minute stage adaptation of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Anandamath, the 1882 novel that includes India’s national song Vande Mataram, on Friday at Gujarat’s Ekta Nagar on the eve of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 151st birth anniversary. The National School of Drama (NSD) production will feature around 300 artistes on a 100 feet by 100 feet stage.
Shantanu Chattopadhyay, Barnali Chattopadhyay and Sumitro Chattopadhyay, members of the novelist’s family, will attend the adaptation at the invitation of the Union home ministry. The song became a rallying cry during the freedom movement. The Supreme Court in September declined to examine whether Vande Mataram should be recognised as the National Song or whether its official rendition should comprise two or six stanzas. Krishna cited a breach of fundamental rights relating to equality, religious freedom, free speech, and protection against discrimination. He added it seeks to connect its literary legacy with contemporary India, highlighting the responsibility of citizens to contribute to the country’s future while remaining connected with its cultural heritage.
Vande Mataram was first published in 1875 and later incorporated into Anandamath. Rabindranath Tagore composed its music and sang it at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta. The celebrations will also feature a separate NSD production on a Maoist-free India, involving around 2,000 artistes from erstwhile 126 Left-wing extremism-hit districts, according to a government statement.
Gujarat government officials aware of the matter said the adaptation would offer a contemporary interpretation of the novel, highlighting every Indian’s responsibility to help build the country’s future, remain connected with its cultural heritage and contribute to national aspirations. It said the choice of national symbols and the aspirations associated with them fall within the remit of an elected government. He argued that the 2026 amendment to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, which extended criminal protection under Section 3 to the “National Song”, alongside the National Anthem, and the home ministry’s directions effectively compel citizens to participate in the rendition of all six stanzas, including portions that expressly invoke Hindu deities. A second official said the adaptation of Anandamath will bring the novel’s themes of devotion to the motherland, sacrifice and national consciousness to the stage.
