Bharat Mata. Mother India. Vande Mataram. We are quite familiar with these terms. These names arouse a strong patriotic sentiment and immediately bring to mind the image of our nation –be in the form of a woman, or the tricolour flag, or the Indian map. Yet, it is the image of the woman that needs special attention. The woman we picture appears calm yet terrifying, frail yet strong, mortal yet so divine. Even more fascinating is the fact that prior to the 20th century, there was no existence of this woman. So when and how exactly did this woman become Bharat Mata? To know this, we need to rewind and revisit the turbulent times of nationalism, in the early 20th century.

The idea of equating the nation with a mother goddess continued to develop throughout the early 20th century. In 1912, the idea of ‘Utkala Janani’ developed in Odisha through the song, Bande Utkala Janani, which literally translates to ‘I bow to thee mother Utkala’, (Utkala, being the ancient name of Odisha). In the 1930s, Tagore’s Banga Mata painting assumed the mantle of Bharat Mata.

The representation of the nation in an anthropomorphic form was not a new element or trend of nationalism, although it was novel to India. In a way, Bharat Mata is a fusion of traditional Indian values and European artistic expression of patriotism. Throughout the history of modern Europe, we see how figures like Germania, Britannia, Victoria and Austria became the visual and feminine representations of the nation-states whose names they bore. Bharat Mata is quite similar in this sense.

Equating the nation with a mother Goddess resonated with not just the intellectual, political leaders, but also the common folk, whether dwelling in the urban area or in the rural. Ordinary masses, at the time when literacy was not very widespread, could easily understand the deeper message shown in the format of a powerful visual medium.

The concept of mother goddess was actually not started by Abanindranath Tagore rather it goes back to the previous century.

In the 1870s, the Bengali playwright Kiran Chandra Banerjee wrote a play addressing the issue of the 18th-century Bengal famine. He mentioned how the Goddess motivated the people to rise against the British. In the 1880s, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in his iconic novel, Anandmath, popularized the concept of ‘Vande Mataram’ (salutation to the mother).

However, Tagore’s painting overwhelmed people in ways the earlier intellectual efforts could not. One reason was that nationalism as an idea had not solidified as well in the 19th century as it did in the 20th century. Moreover, prior to the Swadeshi movement, the Moderate political leaders had made no effort to appeal to the masses and seek their support in the freedom struggle. They focused on tactics that only intellectuals like themselves could relate to and understand.

In many ways, Abanindranath Tagore’s image aroused patriotic sentiments among the masses, who had until then, remained quite distant from the political scene. It was not simply the image but the interpretation of the image which added fuel to the already lit fire among the masses.

Bharat Mata is visualized as the Hindu Goddess Shakti or Durga –fierce and brave. She is the protector of the realm but the British had enslaved her, broken her spirit and made her vulnerable. She now seeks liberation through her sons, the Indians, who therefore must come together to save her from the clutches of evil (the British).

This defined the spirit and the ideology of nationalism perfectly- people coming together and imagining themselves as a part of a common community, united and bound together by their shared experiences of exploitation, injustice and oppression by a foreign power. For the ordinary masses, Bharat Mata became a source of awakening; they were no longer the ignorant masses who remained powerless against the British. Their strength now lies in their unity and their love towards their motherland.

Throughout the early twentieth century, the notion of Bharat Mata found its way into print, iconography and calendars, reaching wider out to the country’s population. So intense was the nationalistic fervour during this time that in 1930, the Bharat Mata Mandir was founded in the city of Varanasi. The supreme deity of the temple is not the feminine form of Bharat Mata but rather the map of India, which is worshiped as ‘Mother India’.

The concept of nation which was strengthened by Tagore continued to evoke strong sentiments even after independence. The image of Bharat Mata or mother India has been portrayed time and again, be it in the form of music, art or cinema. Infact, the post-independence movie Mother India (1957), once again evoked the imagery of a struggling, old mother (Old India) recovering from the brutal side effects of colonialism and in the process, was being supported by her two young sons (Young India). In this way and many other ways, Bharat Mata remains an important political tool even after independence.