Nobel Prize organisation releases picture of English version of ‘Jana Gana Mana’
To mark the birth anniversary of one of its laureates, Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Prize organisation has released, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, a picture of the manuscript of his English translation of ‘Jana Gana Mana’, titled ‘The Morning Song of India’.
Today is the 102nd birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, popularly known among Bengalis as ‘Pochishe Baisakh’—from the fact that the date is decided upon as per his date of birth according to the Bengali calendar, which is the 25th of Baisakh.
As a tribute to the Bard of Bengal, as he is also known as, the Nobel Prize organisation, on May 6 on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, released a picture of the English translation of ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in Tagore’s own handwriting, which has since gone viral.
This is quite an interesting exhibit, as many do not know that Rabindranath had himself translated the national anthem into English, calling it ‘The Morning Song of India’ (the name can also be seen on the manuscript released). Of course, it was not adopted as the national anthem till January 24, 1950, by the Constituent Assembly of India. Tagore died in 1941.
The song comprises five stanzas, four of which are visible in the manuscript posted by Nobel Prize. This is also another of the lesser-known facts about the song, which was titled ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’ by Tagore when he composed it in 1911.
Rabindranath Tagore received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his English translated version of the collection of poems titled Gitanjali.
