The concept of Bharat Mata (Mother India) wasn’t created by a single person at one specific moment; rather, it evolved through literature and art during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a symbol of Indian nationalism.
Here is the timeline of how the "Mother" came to life:
1. The Literary Origins (Late 1800s)
* 1866: One of the earliest mentions of a mother-nation figure appeared in Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay’s satirical work Unabimsa Purana (The Nineteenth Purana).
* 1873: A play titled Bharat Mata by Kiran Chandra Bandyopadhyay was performed in Bengal. It depicted the motherland as a woman suffering under colonial rule, inspiring rebels to fight for her.
* 1882: The concept truly took hold in the public imagination with Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s famous novel, Anandamath. It contained the hymn "Vande Mataram" (I bow to thee, Mother), which personified the nation as a goddess and became the anthem of the freedom struggle.
2. The Visual Birth (1905)
While the idea was in books, the first famous visual depiction was created in 1905 by the artist Abanindranath Tagore (nephew of Rabindranath Tagore).
* The Context: It was painted during the Swadeshi Movement, a protest against the British partition of Bengal.
* The Transformation: Tagore originally titled the painting Banga Mata (Mother Bengal) but later renamed it Bharat Mata to give it a pan-Indian appeal.
* The Image: He depicted her as a saffron-clad, four-armed ascetic (Sadhvi) holding:
* A book (Knowledge)
* Sheaves of paddy (Food)
* A white cloth (Clothing)
* A rosary/mala (Spiritual strength)
3. Religious and Political Evolution (1930s)
The concept shifted from a purely nationalist symbol to a semi-religious one.
* 1936: The first Bharat Mata Temple was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in Varanasi. Notably, this temple contains no traditional idol but a large marble relief map of undivided India, emphasizing that the "Mother" is the land itself.
Summary Table
| Year | Key Contributor | Form |
|---|---|---|
| 1873 | Kiran Chandra Bandyopadhyay | Play titled Bharat Mata |
| 1882 | Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay | Novel Anandamath ("Vande Mataram") |
| 1905 | Abanindranath Tagore | First iconic painting of Bharat Mata |
| 1936 | Shiv Prasad Gupta | First Bharat Mata Temple (Varanasi) |
