Bharat Mata

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Bharat Mata (Template:IAST, Mother India in English) is a national personification of India (Bharat<ref name=mcgregor>Template:Cite book</ref>) as a mother goddess. Bharat Mata is commonly depicted dressed in a red or saffron-coloured sari and in more contemporary iterations, holding a national flag; she sometimes stands on a lotus and is accompanied by a lion.<ref>Visualizing space in Banaras: images, maps, and the practice of representation, Martin Gaenszle, Jörg Gengnagel, illustrated, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006, Template:ISBN</ref>

The word Bharat Mata dates to late 19th century Bengal in modern literature. She was popularised by the Bengali language-novel Anandamath (1882), wherein she was depicted in a form inseparable from the Hindu goddesses Durga and Kali. After the controversial division of Bengal province in 1905, she was highlighted during the boycott of British-made goods organized by Sir Surendranath Bannerjee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In numerous protest meetings, she was invoked in the rallying cry Vande Mataram (I bow to the mother).

Bharat Mata was painted as a four-armed goddess by Abanindranath Tagore in 1904, in the style associated with the Bengal School of Art, in a form derived from typical depictions of Hindu goddesses. This painting is displayed in the Victoria Memorial Museum in Kolkata. By the late 19th century, maps of India produced by the British Raj, and based on the Great Trigonometrical Survey, had become widely available. Over the background of a map, Bharat Mata was depicted on the cover of the poet Subramania Bharati's Tamil language-magazine Vijaya in 1909. In the decades following, she appeared throughout India in popular art: in magazines, posters, and calendars, becoming a symbol of Indian nationalism.

There are a handful of Bharat Mata temples in India. The first was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in Varanasi in 1936. The temple has a large marble relief map of India on its floor, but originally lacked a murti (divine image used for worship). On its wall is displayed a poem written for the inauguration by the nationalist Hindi language-poet Maithili Sharan Gupt; it proclaims the temple to be open to all castes and religions. Most visitors to the temple are foreign tourists.<ref name=express-bharatmata>Template:Citation some </ref> Indian Muslims and Sikhs have opposed the chanting of her name, because in Islam and Sikhism, God cannot be worshipped in human form.<ref>https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/bharat-mata-ki-jai-controversy-continues-now-punjab-leader-says-won-t-chant-the-slogan-as-sikhs-don-t-worship-women-252470.html</ref>

History

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Cover of a 1909 issue of the Tamil magazine Vijaya showing "Bharat Mata" (Mother India) with her diverse progeny and the rallying cry "Vande Mataram".

The image of Bharat Mata formed with the Indian independence movement of the late 19th century. A play by Kiran Chandra Banerjee, Bharat Mata, was first performed in 1873. The play, set during the 1770 Bengal famine, depicts a woman and her husband who go to the forest and encounter rebels. A priest takes them to a temple where they are shown Bharat Mata. Thus they are inspired and lead a rebellion which results in the defeat of the British.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Manushi magazine story traces origin to a satirical work Unabimsa Purana or The Nineteenth Purana by Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay which was first published anonymously in 1866.<ref name="Roche 2016">Template:Cite web</ref> Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1882 wrote a novel Anandamath and introduced the hymn "Vande Mātaram",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Kinsley, David. Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions. Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, India. Template:ISBN. pp. 181-182.</ref> which soon became the song of the emerging freedom movement in India. As the British Raj created cartographic shape of India through the Geological Survey of India, the Indian nationalist developed it into an icon of nationalism.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the 1920s, it became a more political image, sometimes including images of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh. The Tiranga flag was also started being included during this period. In 1930s, the image entered in religious practice. The Bharat Mata temple was built in Varanasi in 1936 by Shiv Prashad Gupt and was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. This temple does not have any statuary but only a marble relief of the map of India.<ref name="Roche 2016"/> Bipin Chandra Pal elaborated its meaning in idealizing and idealist terms, along with Hindu philosophical traditions and devotional practices. It represented an archaic spiritual essence, a transcendental idea of Universe as well as expressing Universal Hinduism and nationhood.<ref>Producing India, Manu Goswami, Orient Blackswan, 2004, Template:ISBN</ref>

Abanindranath Tagore portrayed Bharat Mata as a four-armed Hindu goddess wearing saffron-colored robes, holding the manuscripts, sheaves of rice, a mala, and a white cloth.<ref>Specters of Mother India: the global restructuring of an empire, Mrinalini Sinha, Zubaan, 2006, Template:ISBN</ref> The image of Bharatmata was an icon to create nationalist feeling in Indians during the freedom struggle. Sister Nivedita, an admirer of the painting, opined that the picture was refined and imaginative, with Bharatmata standing on green earth and blue sky behind her; feet with four lotuses, four arms meaning divine power; white halo and sincere eyes; and gifts Shiksha-Diksha-Anna-Bastra of the motherland to her children.<ref>The Goddess and the Nation: Mapping Mother India, Sumathi Ramaswamy, Duke University Press, 2010, Template:ISBN</ref>

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The relief map of India as Bharat Mata, carved out of marble at Bharat Mata Mandir, Varanasi

Indian Independence activist Subramania Bharati saw Bharat Mata as the land of Ganga. He identified Bharat Mata as Mahadevi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also says that he has got the Darśana of Bharat Mata during his visit with his guru Sister Nivedita.Template:Citation needed

Significance

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A Bharathamatha statue at Kanyakumari, or Cape Comorin, the southern-most coast of India

In the book Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India, Kalyani Devaki Menon argues that "the vision of India as Bharat Mata has profound implications for the politics of Hindu nationalism" and that the depiction of India as a Hindu goddess implies that it is not just the patriotic but also the religious duty of all Hindus to participate in the nationalist struggle to defend the nation.<ref>Kalyani Devaki Menon, Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India: The Ethnography of Political Violence, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009, Template:ISBN, p. 89f.</ref> This association has caused controversy with devout Muslims, whose belief in the oneness of God keeps them from assigning divinity to any god other than Allah.<ref>What's wrong in saying Bharat Mata Ki Jai: Congress, Indian Express.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>The Sound of Dog-Whistling: 'Vande Mataram' itself is not communal., DailyO, 2019.</ref><ref name="Deccan Chronicle">Template:Cite web</ref>

The motto Bharat Mata ki Jai ("Victory for Mother India") is used by the Indian Army.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In contemporary colloquial usage, however, the expression is analogous to "Long live Mother India" or "Salute to Mother India." (See also Jai Hind.) Muslim-majority Indonesia's several dozen national armed units also use Hindu-origin Sanskrit language mottoes, including the National Armed Forces,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Army, Navy, for example the Indonesian Air Force's motto Swabhuana Paksa ("Wings of The Motherland") and the Indonesian National Police's motto Rastra Sewakottama ("Nation's Best Servants").<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Temples

Varanasi

The Bharat Mata Temple is located in the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth campus in Varanasi.<ref name=BHARAT-MATA-TEMPLE>IMPORTANT TEMPLES OF VARANASI Template:Webarchive, varanasi.nic.in Template:Webarchive</ref> The temple houses a marble idol of Bharat Mata along with a marble relief map of India.<ref name=BHARAT-MATA-TEMPLE/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Temple, a gift from the nationalists Shiv Prasad Gupta and Durga Prasad Khatri, was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1936.<ref name=BHARAT-MATA-TEMPLE/> Mahatma Gandhi said, "I hope this temple, which will serve as a cosmopolitan platform for people of all religions, castes, and creeds including Harijans, will go a great way in promoting religious unity, peace, and love in the country."<ref name="Eck2012">Template:Citation</ref>

Bharat Mata at Jatiya Shaktipeeth, Kolkata

Haridwar

The temple was founded by Swami Satyamitranand on the banks of the Ganges in Haridwar. It has 8 storeys and is 180 feet tall.<ref name="mapsofIndia.com" /> It was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi in 1983.<ref name="mapsofIndia.com" /> Floors are dedicated to mythological legends, religious deities, freedom fighters and leaders.<ref name="mapsofIndia.com">Bharat Mata Temple, mapsofIndia.com</ref>

Kolkata

The temple is located in Michael Nagar on Jessore Road, barely 2 km away from the Kolkata Airport. Here, Bharat Mata is portrayed through the image of "Jagattarini Durga". This was inaugurated on October 19, 2015 (Mahashashti Day of Durga Puja that year)<ref name="worldhindunews.com">Template:Cite web</ref> by Keshari Nath Tripathi, the Governor of West Bengal. The initiative to build the temple, which has been named Jatiya Shaktipeeth, was taken by the Spiritual Society of India in order to mark the 140th anniversary of "Vande Mataram".

Kurukshetra

In July 2019, the Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, granted 5 acre land near Mahabharta-era Jyotisar tirth to the "Bharat Mata Trust" of "Juna Akhara" to construct the next temple of Bharat Mata.<ref name="worldhindunews.com1">Bharat Mata's third temple will be built in Kurukshetra, 5 acres of land will be near Jyotisar</ref>

References

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External links

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Template:Usurped The Hindu, August 17, 2003.
The life and times of Bharat Mata Sadan Jha, Manushi, Issue 142.
Bharat Mata Images Prof. Pritchett, Columbia University

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