Addressing the gathering in Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Modi said, “Vande Mataram is not just a word, it is a mantra, an energy, a dream, a resolve. It is the devotion to Mother India, the worship of Mother India. It connects us to our history and gives our future new courage. There is no resolve that cannot be achieved, no goal that we Indians cannot accomplish. We have to build a nation which is at the top on basis of knowledge, science and technology.”
He also said that some of the song’s important stanzas were dropped in 1937, sowing the seeds of partition and asserted that such a “divisive mindset” is still a challenge for the country.
“Vande Mataram became voice of India’s freedom struggle, it expressed feelings of every Indian. Unfortunately, in 1937, important stanzas of Vande Mataram… its soul was removed. The division of Vande Mataram also sowed the seeds of partition. Today’s generation needs to know that why was this injustice done with this ‘maha mantra’ of nation building,” he told the gathering.
“This divisive mindset is still a challenge for the country,” he said, in an apparent attack at the Opposition parties.
Noting that Vande Mataram is relevant in every era, the prime minister, referring to Operation Sindoor, said, “When the enemy dared to attack our security and honour using terrorism, world saw that India knows how to take the form of Durga”.
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The PM also launched an online website vandemataram150.in during the event. Later on X, he posted: “It was a great pleasure to inaugurate today the website associated with the 150 years of Vande Mataram. Now every citizen of the country can sing this immortal song in their own voice and feel a deep emotional connection with it.”
The mass singing of the full version of the song, remained the highlight of this event, witnessing participation from citizens across public spaces in the nation.
The event marked the formal launch of a year-long nationwide commemoration from November 7th 2025 to November 7th 2026, celebrating 150 years of Bankimchandra Chatterjee’s “timeless composition which inspired India’s freedom movement and continues to evoke national pride and unity,” a release by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stated.
Calling November 7 a “historic day for the countrymen,” PM Modi took to X on Thursday to express his enthusiasm ahead of the programme.
According to the PMO’s statement, the song was written during the “auspicious occasion of Akshaya Navami” on 7th November in 1875.
“Vande Mataram first appeared in the literary journal Bangadarshan as part of his novel Anandamath. The song, invoking the Motherland as the embodiment of strength, prosperity and divinity, gave poetic expression to India’s awakening spirit of unity and self-respect. It soon became an enduring symbol of devotion to the nation,” it stated.
Leaders, citizens across India celebrate 150 Years of ‘Vande Mataram’
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the year-long ‘Vande Mataram@150’ commemoration of the song in Lucknow’s Lok Bhawan early Friday.
Over a post on X on Thursday, Adityanath called on Indian citizens to join the collective singing “in one voice, one resolve, and one sentiment.”
He wrote: “Let us all join in this nation-inspiring call from the Prime Minister ji and collectively sing the national song in one voice, one resolve, and one sentiment. This is not just a song but the echo of the nation’s soul, which connects us with unity, integrity, and the resolve of ‘One India, Great India.’ Vande Mataram!”
The members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh too participated in its commemoration in a separate cenremony in Prayagraj, news agency PTI reported sharing a video.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Friday also marked the celebrations in Patna, saying that the dreams envisioned by India’s freedom fighters have been fulfilled over the last 11 years through the collective efforts of the people.
Speaking at the 150th anniversary celebrations, Shah said the song not only inspired the freedom movement but also helped keep the country united after Independence.
A day earlier, he took to X to share his praise for the song as the “voice of India’s soul,” stating that it “continues to ignite the eternal flame of nationalism in the hearts of the countrymen.”
“‘Vande Mataram’ is not merely a collection of words; it is the voice of India’s soul. Against the English regime, ‘Vande Mataram’ united the nation and strengthened the consciousness of freedom. At the same time, it awakened in the revolutionaries an unwavering dedication, pride, and spirit of sacrifice for the motherland,” he stated in his appreciation post.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers across different parts of the nation also participated in the celebrations.
Here’s a visual from Jharkhand:
Thousands of people also gathered at Jaipur’s SMS Stadium as Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma launched the grand ‘Vande Mataram@150’ celebration, featuring mass singing and a stunning display of 50,000 Tirangas, according to PTI news agency.
‘Cong proud flagbearer of Vande Mataram’: Kharge
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, marked the anniversary by sharing a message over his X handle, reaffirming the party’s “unshakable faith” in the song.
He referred to Vande Mataram as “the eternal song of our motherland, the clarion call of our unity, and the voice of India’s undying spirit.”
In his message, he also took a dig at the RSS, BJP and the Sangh Parivar for singing Namaste Sada Vatsale, which he claimed is “a song glorifying their organisations, not the nation.”
“Since its founding in 1925, the RSS has avoided Vande Mataram, despite its universal reverence. Not once in its texts or literature does the song find mention,” he wrote.
Further targeting the far-right organisations, Kharge wrote: “It is a well-known fact that the RSS and Sangh Parivar supported the British against Indians in the National Movement, did not raise the National Flag for 52 years, abused the Constitution of India, burnt effigies of Bapu and Babasaheb Ambedkar, and, in the words of Sardar Patel, were involved in Gandhiji’s assassination.”
PM Modi Vande Mataram 150 years: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Lt. Governor VK Saxena, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat during an event marking 150 years of the national song 'Vande Mataram', at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, in New Delhi. (@NarendraModi/YT via PTI Photo) 
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