PM to launch year-long celebrations of 150 years of Vande Mataram

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the year-long commemoration of the national song Vande Mataram on Friday in New Delhi, marking 150 years of the iconic composition by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. He will also release a commemorative stamp and coin to mark the occasion. The event at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium will feature an exhibition on the songs history, including gramophone records and the first commercial soundtrack. Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurated the exhibition, calling the occasion historic, and said, A divine thought took the form of a song; it stirred the soul of the country and changed history. The ceremony will include a concert Vande Mataram: Naad Ekam, Roopam Anekam featuring 75 musicians led by violin maestro Dr. Mysore Manjunath, along with a short documentary 150 Years of Vande Mataram. As part of the year-long celebrations, the Culture Ministry launched the Karaoke with Vande Mataram campaign, encouraging citizens to record and upload their renditions online.