Jana Gana Mana Completes 100 Years : Interesting Facts on national anthem

Jana Gana Mana Completes 100 Years : Interesting Facts on national anthem

India's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, completes 100 years today(26-12-2011). 

Rabindranath Tagore's 'Jana Gana Mana' was first performed on December 27, 1911, at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress which was then a national movement. Decades later , after Independence, the Constituent Assembly adopted the song as the national anthem on January 24, 1950. 

Written in highly Sanskritized Bengali , the passages conveys the immense power of India's diversity in unity. He translated the song in English called 'The Morning Song of India'. 

Although he wrote five lengthy stanzas to 'Jana Gana Mana', only the first was recorded because of time constraints. Most people are unaware that the 52-second version we hear is part of the whole.

Rabindranath Tagore is the only individual in the world credited with the national anthem for two nations, the other being 'Amar Sonar Bangla' that was adopted by Bangladesh.