How a poem recital in Madanapalle led to India getting its national anthem

Oblivious to many Indians, Madanapalle, a sleepy and serene town in Chittoor district of the Rayalaseema region, enjoys the rare distinction of contributing some of the firsts to the Indian national movement. It was here at the Besant Theosophical College that the original tune of the National Anthem Jana Gana Mana was set, 99 years ago. Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore’s brief but momentous stay at the college in the last week of February 1919 also saw the great poet translating his Bengali poem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ into English as ‘Morning Song of India’.
According to Hyderabad-based historian Professor KSS Seshan, Tagore was on a tour of South India when he reached Madanapalle from Bangalore by train in the last week of February 1919. Tired from the arduous tour, he wanted to take rest at the Theosophical College, which was founded by Dr Annie Besant, the great Theosophist and nationalist in 1915. Tagore also wanted to enjoy the company of the college principal Dr James Henry Cousins, whose poetry he admired. Madanapalle was also the birthplace of Besant’s protégé, the great Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti.
‘Jana gana mana’ gets the universal tune
According to Professor Seshan, Dr Cousins and his wife Margaret used to conduct a ' funsinging session' every Wednesday night after dinner for the entire college community. At one of these sessions, Tagore, who joined the gathering, asked if he could sing one of his poems. The audience, who had gathered in one of the classrooms that night, had never imagined that they would be witness to a defining moment in Indian national movement.
Later, Dr Cousins recounted the historic moment in his autobiography: “In a voice surprisingly light for so large a man, he sang something like a piece of geography giving a list of countries, mountains and rivers; and in the second verse, a list of the religions in India. The refrain to the first verse made us pick up our ears. The refrain to the second verse made us clear our throats. We asked for it again and again, and before long we were singing it with gusto: Jaya hai, Jaya hai, Jaya hai, Jaya JayaJayaJayahai (Victory, victory, victory to thee).”
Mrs Cousins, who was moved by the poem’s profound beauty and magnificence, wanted to give a suitable tune to it. She was a graduate in Music from the Royal University of Ireland, Dublin and the following day she grasped the general theme, notations, nuances and ‘swara’ for the song from its creator himself. With the help of her students, Mrs Cousins gave musical notes to the song using only a few simple musical instruments.
Tagore showered praise on Mrs Cousins and appreciated her efforts in composing a delightful melody for his poem.
“It made literary history and carried the name and thought of Tagore into the minds and hearts of millions of young children in schools and colleges. It ultimately gave humanity, the nearest approach to an ideal national anthem. It happened, as so many great events of the spirit do, without anticipation and without collusion,” Dr Cousins wrote in his autobiography.
Translating ‘Jana Gana Mana’ into ‘Morning Song of India’
Tagore had stayed in a modest cottage in the college, now popularly known as the ‘Tagore Cottage’ and translated ‘Jana Gana Mana’ into English. After finishing the translated version, he signed his name at the bottom of the document in his characteristic beautiful handwriting, dated as February 28, 1919 and handed it over to Dr James Cousins by naming it as the ‘Morning Song of India’. Before bidding adieu on March 2, 1919 to continue his south India tour, Tagore named the Madanapalle college as ‘Santiniketan of South.’
The college had preserved this treasure for many years. However, financial difficulties due to the withdrawal of grants by Madras government in the wake of the active participation by the students and staff in the Home Rule agitation started by Annie Besant, led to selling the document to an American art collector for a fabulous but undisclosed price, recounts Professor Seshan. But, the college still preserves a photostat copy of the original version.
The refurbished ‘Tagore Cottage’, and a white statue of Tagore, which had been erected at the place where Tagore used to sit and translate the original song to English, while basking in the winter Sun, are the lasting remnants of Tagore’s memory, that continues to draw history enthusiasts and commoners to this town.