The poem was first publicly recited on the second day of the annual session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 27 December 1911. Then, it was followed in January 1912 at the annual event of the Adi Brahmo Samaj, however, it was largely unknown except to the readers of the Adi Brahmo Samaj journal, "Tattwabodhini Patrika". The poem was published in January 1912, under the title "Bharat Bhagya Bidhata" in the Tatwabodhini Patrika, which was the official publication of the Brahmo Samaj with Tagore then the Editor.