Official Vande Mataram rules: 6 stanzas must; before anthem

The Union home ministry has mandated that a six-stanza-long, 3 minutes and 10 seconds version of Vande Mataram be played or sung at a raft of official occasions, including during the unfurling of the Tricolour, arrival of the President at events, before and after her speeches and addresses to the nation, and before and after the arrival and speeches of governors.

- Neeraj Chauhan and Sunetra Choudhury

In a 10-page order issued on January 28, seen by HT, the ministry also said that if the national song and the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, are sung or played together, Vande Mataram will be played first, and that the audience shall stand in attention during the singing or playing.

“Whenever the official version of the national song is sung, or played, the audience shall stand to attention. However, when in the course of a newsreel or documentary the national song is played as a part of the film, it is not expected of the audience to stand as standing is bound to interrupt the exhibition of the film and would create disorder and confusion rather than add to the dignity of the national song,” said the note, issued in English and Hindi to all states and Union territories, ministries and constitutional bodies.

The ministry note also gives a list of events and places where the song may be played, including in school assemblies.

The move appears to be in sync with the Union government's recent push to popularise Vande Mataram, which earlier included an acrimonious debate in Parliament to mark the 150th anniversary of the national song and displaying several tableaux during the Republic Day parade themed on the song.

Written by Bengali literary icon Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in Sanskritised Bengali in the 1870s, the song was first adopted by the freedom movement to praise the motherland. In 1950, the first two stanzas of the song were adopted as India’s national song.

Till now, there was no official protocol during the singing of Vande Mataram - unlike Jana Gana Mana, which has clearly defined rules on the tune, duration and singing of the song. The expanded, six-stanza version of the song has not been sung in official events till now.