Bengali language the national anthems of Bangladesh ("Amar Sonar Bangla") and India ("Jana Gana Mana") were composed in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore. The first two verses of a patriotic song written in Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, "Vande Mataram", was adopted as the "national song" of India in both the colonial period and later in 1950 in independent India. Furthermore, it is believed by many that the national anthem of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Matha) was inspired by a Bengali poem written by Rabindranath Tagore, while some even believe the anthem was originally written in Bengali and then translated into Sinhalese. In
Besant Theosophical College activities, was obliged to dissociate itself from the Madras University and became part of the newly organized National University. Rabindranath Tagore was the chancellor. In 1919, Tagore visited the college and during this time translated the lyrics of the Indian national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana", which he had previously written, from Bengali to English. Margaret Cousins (an expert in European music and wife of Irish poet James Cousins, then vice-principal of the college) set down the notation to the national anthem in the college, which is followed only when the song is sung in the original slow rendition style. During