The slogan of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai‘ fills millions of hearts with enthusiasm. But after all, who is Bharat Mata ? let us know about her. You must have seen the photo of Bharat Mata wearing a saree and carrying the tricolor in her hands, in books or on the internet, or you must have read the slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ in the history books of independence. This slogan excites millions of people, but have you ever thought that who is Bharat Mata seen in the painting?
Mother India appeared here for the first time
We do not get to hear about Bharat Mata in an ancient story. Actually the picture you see today was prepared during the freedom struggle of the 19th century. The title of the play written by Kiran Chandra Banerjee during the year 1873 was ‘Bharat Mata’. According to history, the slogan of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ started for the first time in this play itself.
This is how the first picture of Bharat Mata was prepared
The credit for making India’s first photograph goes to Abanindranath Tagore. In this watercolor picture, Bharat Mata was seen wearing a saffron-colored Bengali dress. The goddess seen in this picture was also called Banga Devi, who had a book, paddy pulley, garland, and white cloth in one hand.
Different forms of Mother India from the imagination of artists
After this picture, all the artists made the picture of Bharat Mata in different ways. Somewhere she was shown as Maa Durga and somewhere she was portrayed as Maa Ganga. During the freedom struggle, Subramaniam Bharti ji made a picture of Mother India, in which Mother India is depicted as the land of the Ganges. In most of the photographs, Bharat Mata was wearing a sari, riding a lion with a saffron flag in her hand.
Changes in the picture of Bharat Mata
During the independence of the country, many types of pictures came to the fore. Which political leaders of the country were also seen along with Bharat Mata. Apart from this, Mother India was seen carrying the tricolor flag in her hands in many photographs.
The first temple of Mother India was built in the year 1936
The first temple of Bharat Mata was established in India in the year 1936 at Kashi University in Varanasi. Which was built by Shiv Prasad Gupta. The temple was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. After this, the Bharat Mata Temple was established by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Since then till today, Bharat Mata has been depicted in different ways in photographs.
How did the word ‘Bharat-Mata’ came ?
India has been called the motherland since time immemorial. Its evidence is also found in the Vedas. Motherland is clearly mentioned in the verses of Atharva Veda. However, Vande Mataram written by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay further strengthened the concept of motherland. At the same time, the first written evidence of the present time is found in the satire ‘Unabimsa Purana’ or ‘The Nineteenth Purana’ written by the famous Bengali writer and litterateur Bhudev Mukhopadhyay of the 19th century. The article was published in 1866. In this, the word ‘Adi-Bharti’ was used for ‘Bharat-Mata’.