Banga Mata

This article is about the national personification of Bengal. For the Bengali poem, see Bangamata (poem).

Banga Mata, 1905 painting by Abanindranath Tagore

Map of Bengal

Baṅgamātā (Bengali: বঙ্গমাতা), Bangla Maa (Bengali: বাংলা মা), Mother Bengal, is a personification of Bengal emerged during the Bengali Renaissance and later adopted by the Bengali nationalists. Bangamata is originally an old abstract personification of undivided Bengal (modeled after similar ones from europe, such as Britannia) and not based on an actual person. It remains popular in Bangladeshi and Indian Bengali as a cultural expression and a patriotic symbol.

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838-1894), a writer, poet and journalist from undivided Bengal, composed an ode to Mother Bengal called Vande Mataram around 1876 as an alternative to the British royal anthem.

In Amar Sonar Bangla, the national anthem of Bangladesh, Rabindranath Tagore used the word "Maa" (Mother) numerous times to refer to the motherland, i.e. Bengal. Despite her popularity in patriotic songs and poems, her physical representations and images are rare.

History

Swadeshi movement

Main article: Swadeshi movement

The Swadeshi movement was a campaign that promoted self-sufficiency through the use of indigenous goods while rejecting British products. It emerged as a major response to the partition of Bengal, which was announced by the colonial administration in December 1903 and formally implemented in 1905. Widespread discontent in Bengal, the epicenter of the agitation, led to the formal launch of the movement at a meeting in Calcutta’s Town Hall on 7 August 1905. The movement not only encouraged economic self-reliance but also contributed significantly to the growth of Indian nationalism. During this period, Abanindranath Tagore created the painting originally titled Banga Mata (“Banga” meaning Bengal), which was later renamed Bharat Mata (“Bharat” being an ancient name for India) on the suggestion of Sister Nivedita. The painting came to symbolize nationalist aspirations and became closely associated with the ideals of the Swadeshi movement.

First Partition of Bengal

Main article: Partition of Bengal (1905)

The first incarnations of Mother Bengal, or Bangamata, emerged during resistance to the partition of Bengal. The partition took place in October 1905 and separated the largely Muslim areas of Eastern Bengal from the largely Hindu areas of Western Bengal. Wealthy Hindus centered around Calcutta, who dominated Bengal's businesses and rural life complained that the partition would make them a minority in a province due to the incorporation of the Bihar and Orissa Province into the Bengal Presidency. It was during this time the Mother Bengal was an immensely popular theme in Bengali patriotic songs and poems and was mentioned in several of them, such as the song ″Dhana Dhanya Pushpa Bhara″ and ″Banga Amar Janani Amar″ (Our Bengal Our Mother) by Dwijendralal Ray. These songs were meant to rekindle the unified spirit of Bengal, to raise public consciousness against the communal political divide.

Bangladesh Liberation War

Main article: Bangladesh Liberation War

Although Bengali Muslims played crucial role setting up the partition of Bengal in response to their socio-economic aspirations, it was reinterpreted, often aligning with Bengali nationalism during the Independence of Bangladesh. Many of Bengali patriotic songs were regularly played on the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, the clandestine radio station broadcast to revolutionaries and the Bengali public during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Some of these patriotic songs, such as “Jonmo Amar Dhonno Holo Maa-go” and “Bangla Moder Bangla Maa Amra Tomar Koti Shontan” have significant representations of “Mother Bengal”. These patriotic songs are still immensely popular in modern day Bangladesh

In art and literature

• Vande Mataram, by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
• Banglar Mati Banglar Jol, by Rabindranath Tagore
• Banga Amar Janani Amar, by Dwijendralal Ray
• Bangamata (poem), by Rabindranath Tagore
• Amar Sonar Bangla, by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905
• O Amar Desher Mati, by Rabindranath Tagore
• Bangladesh, by Kazi Nazrul Islam
• Aaji Bangladesher Hridoy, by Rabindranath Tagore
• Bangla Mayer Kol, by S. D. Burman; better known by first line Takdum Takdum Bajai Bangladesher Dhol
• Oh Amar Bangla Maa, by Abul Umrah Fakhruddin and Alauddin Ali

See also

• National personification, contains the list of personifications for various nations and territories.
• Bharat Mata, the national personification of India as a mother goddess.
• Sri Lanka Matha, the national personification in the national anthem of Sri Lanka as a mother goddess.
• Ibu Pertiwi, the national personification of Indonesia.
• Vande Mataram, song sung in reverence of Bharat Mata and Banga Mata.
• Joy Bangla
• Columbia, an equivalent symbol for the United States.
• Telugu Thalli
• Janani Janmabhumishcha Swargadapi Gariyasi