Vande Mataram Vande Mataram Bande Mataram (IAST: ) (English Translation: "Mother, I bow to thee") is a Bengali poem written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1870s, which he included in his 1881 novel "Anandamath". The poem was composed into song by Rabindranath Tagore. The first two verses of the song were adopted as the National Song of India in October 1937 by the Congress Working Committee prior to the end of colonial rule in August 1947. An ode to the Mother goddess, it was written in Bengali script in the novel "Anandmath". The title 'Bande Mataram' means "I praise thee, Mother" or
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