Bharat Mata

This article is about the national personification of India. For the Hindi film, see Mother India.
Bharat Mata statue accompanied by a lion at Yanam,India
Bharat Mata statue at Kanyakumari,India
The saffron clad goddess Bharat Mata, a painting by Abanindranath Tagore
Bharat Mata at Indian Army base gate near Leh, Ladakh

Bhārat Mātā (Hindi, from Sanskrit भारत माता, Bhārata Mātā), Mother India, or Bhāratāmbā (Sanskrit: भारताम्बा; अम्बा ambā means 'mother') is the national personification of India as a mother goddess. She is an amalgam of all the goddesses of Indian culture and more significantly of goddess Durga. She is usually depicted as a woman clad in a saffron sari holding the Indian national flag, and sometimes accompanied by a lion.[1]

Historic perspective

The image of Bhāratmātā formed with the Indian independence movement of the late 19th century. A play by Kiran Chandra Bannerjee, Bhārat Mātā, was first performed in 1873. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1882 novel Anandamath introduced the hymn "Vande Mātaram",[2] which soon became the song of the emerging freedom movement in India.

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 transcedental idea of Universe as well as expressing Universal Hinduism and nationhood.[3]

Abanindranath Tagore portrayed Bhārat Mātā as a four-armed Hindu goddess wearing saffron-colored robes, holding the vedas, sheaves of rice, a mala, and a white cloth.[4] 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 motherland to her children.[5]

Significance

Bhārat Mātā temples exist in the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi University, inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1936 and another in Haridwar built in 1983 by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and inaugurated by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[6]

The depiction of India as a Hindu goddess implies that it is not just the patriotic but also the religious duty of all Indians to participate in the nationalist struggle to defend the nation.[7]

The motto Bharat Mata ki Jai’ ("Victory for Mother India") is used by the Indian Army.[8]

Bharat Mata temples

At Varanasi

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

The temple is located in the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth campus in Varanasi.[9] The temple houses a marble idol of Bharat Mata along with a marble relief map of India.[9][10]

The Temple, a gift from the nationalists Shiv Prasad Gupta and Durga Prasad Khatri, was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1936.[9] 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."

At Haridwar

The temple was founded by Swami Satyamitranand Giri on the banks of the Ganges in Haridwar. It has 8 storeys and is 180 feet tall.[11] It was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi in 1983.[11] Floors are dedicated to mythological legends, religious deities, freedom fighters and leaders.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Visualizing space in Banaras: images, maps, and the practice of representation, Martin Gaenszle, Jörg Gengnagel, illustrated, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-447-05187-3
  2. ↑ Kinsley, David. Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions. Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, India. ISBN 81-208-0379-5. pp. 181-182.
  3. ↑ Producing India, Manu Goswami, Orient Blackswan, 2004, ISBN 978-81-7824-107-4
  4. ↑ Specters of Mother India: the global restructuring of an empire, Mrinalini Sinha, Zubaan, 2006, ISBN 978-81-89884-00-0
  5. ↑ The Goddess and the Nation: Mapping Mother India, Sumathi Ramaswamy, Duke University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8223-4610-4
  6. ↑ Lise McKean, 'Bharat Mata: Mother India and Her Militant Matriots' in: John Stratton Hawley, Donna M. Wulff (eds.) Devī: goddesses of India. Motilal Banarsidass, 1998, ISBN 978-81-208-1491-2, p. 250-280.
  7. ↑ Kalyani Devaki Menon, Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India: The Ethnography of Political Violence, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8122-4196-9, p. 89f.
  8. ↑ Vinay Kumar (2 October 2012). "It is Jai Hind for Army personnel". The Hindu (Chennai, India). Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 IMPORTANT TEMPLES OF VARANASI, varanasi.nic.in
  10. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20110211043538/http://varanasicity.com/temples/bharatmata-mandir.html
  11. 1 2 3 Bharat Mata Temple, mapsofIndia.com

External links

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