Jana Gana Mana the Indian National Congress. A separate poem, Vande Mataram, was created "national song" of India during both the colonial period and after independence in 1956. The poem was first sung on the second day of the annual session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 27 December 1911, and again in January 1912 at the annual event of the Adi Brahmo Samaj. Though the Bengali song had been written in 1911, it was largely unknown except to the readers of the Adi Brahmo Samaj journal, "Tattwabodhini Patrika", of which Tagore was the editor. Song was performed by
Vande Mataram unlike later verses that compare certain qualities of thee country and mother to goddesses like Durga and Lakshmi. There is no time limit or circumstantial specification for the rendition of this song [unlike the national anthem "Jana Gana Mana" that specifies 52 seconds]. The root of the Sanskrit word Vande is "Vand", which appears in "Rigveda" and other Vedic texts. According to Monier Monier-Williams, depending on the context, "vand" means "to praise, celebrate, laud, extol, to show honour, do homage, salute respectfully", or "deferentially, venerate, worship, adore", or "to offer anything respectfully to". The word "Mātaram" has Indo-European roots in