Bharat Mata: A Symbol of Unity and Diversity
Bharat Mata is an abstract idea that refers to our country India as the mother of all its citizens.
The first time we come across the idea of a national mother goddess is in a Bengali play written by Kiran Chandra Banerjee in 1873. Rabindranath Tagore gave form to this concept in 1905, during the Swadeshi Movement. His Bharat Mata was a beautiful young woman who was draped over her a simple orange-colored saree. She had the look of a sadhvi, and she was standing at the edge of a lotus pond.
She is also depicted with a halo behind her head, and four hands, which attributed a divine look to the Bharat Mata. She was holding a sacred manuscript, an akshamala, or a rosary of beads, a vastra or a piece of fabric, and a bunch of rice foliage in each of her hands. Her calm demeanor was an embodiment of grace.
Many have stated her to be a combination of both Saraswati and Lakshmi, deities who were highly revered in the Hindu religion, the former for knowledge and the latter for prosperity. Collectively, the deity seemed to imply that the motherland had gifts of shiksha, diksha, anna, and vastra, i.e. knowledge, spiritualism, food, and clothing. Sister Nivedita stated this as the coming together of the abstract ideal of nationalism and art.
Bharat Mata had been depicted in different forms throughout history. However, the overarching frame remains religious, having elements drawn from the vocabulary of Hinduism and national struggle together. The icon of Bharat Mata is considered a goddess who has become a rallying point in proving one’s nationalism and patriotism towards the country.
Soon, she was represented in a more martial form, sometimes resembling Durga, with a trident and the national flag. A temple dedicated to Bharat Mata was inaugurated by Gandhiji in 1937. A chant was also created to be uttered during the worship of the goddess.
Ratnakaradhautapadam Himalyakirtitinim,
Brahmarajarsiratnamdhyam vande Bharatamataram
The above means– “I pay my obeisance to mother Bharat, whose feet are being washed by the ocean, who wears the mighty Himalaya as her crown, and who is exuberantly adorned with the gems of traditions set by Brahma Rishis and Rajarishis.”
India is known as a country with numerous gods and goddesses. The creation of Bharat Mata is rooted deep in the religious pantheon, especially in the mainstream Hindu religion. There are only a handful of temples associated with Bharat Mata in the present times. Some of them are at Varanasi, Haridwar, Kurukshetra, and Kolkata.
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