RAS question
Who composed the national song 'Vande Mataram', whose 150 years was celebrated on Republic Day 2026?
Correct answer: (B) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Vande Mataram was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Explanation
Vande Mataram is linked to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, not to a later nationalist poet or political leader. The key chronology is fixed: the composition first appeared in the literary journal Bangadarshan on 7 November 1875 and was later included in Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1882 novel Anandamath. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay is tied to both the original publication and the later literary setting through which the song became widely remembered. Vande Mataram belongs to the literary history of modern Indian nationalism and to India's national identity symbols.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Rabindranath Tagore is not the composer in Vande Mataram's 1875 publication chronology and later inclusion in Anandamath.
- (C) Sarojini Naidu is not connected with the publication history that links Vande Mataram to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Anandamath.
- (D) Aurobindo Ghosh is not the composer; Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay composed Vande Mataram.
Concept
Modern Indian history connects national symbols with their literary origins. RAS prelims facts often draw on the overlap between national movement memory, patriotic literature and official identity markers.