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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Personification of Bengal}}<br />
{{About|the national personification of [[Bengal]]|the Bengali poem|Bangamata (poem)}}<br />
[[File:Bharat Mata by Abanindranath Tagore.jpg|thumb|[[Banga Mata (painting)|''Banga Mata'']], 1905 painting by [[Abanindranath Tagore]]<ref name="banga">{{cite web |title=Abanindranath Tagore Bharat Mata, Bengal School of Art, Rabindranath Tagore, & Facts Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abanindranath-Tagore#ref431075 |website=britannica.com |language=en |date=3 August 2025}}</ref>]]<br />
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'''Banga Mata''' ({{langx|bn|বঙ্গমাতা}} {{IPA|bn|ˈbɔŋɡoˌmat̪aˑ|}}) or '''Bangla Ma''' ({{langx|bn|বাংলা মা}} {{IPA|bn|ˈbaŋlaˑ ˈmaˑ|}}), often translated into English as '''Mother Bengal''', is a [[national personification|personification]] of [[Bengal]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Amritjit|last2=Iyer|first2=Nalini|last3=Gairola|first3=Rahul K.|title=Revisiting India's Partition: New Essays on Memory, Culture, and Politics|date=2016|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=9781498531054|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmA0DAAAQBAJ&q=bangamata+poem+rabindranath+tagore&pg=PA98|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bose |first1=Sugata |last2=Jalal |first2=Ayesha |year=1998 |title=Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bodaohHyDRcC&pg=PA121 |edition=1st |publisher=Psychology Press |page=121 |isbn=978-0-415-16952-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Gupta|first1=Swarupa|title=Notions of Nationhood in Bengal: Perspectives on Samaj, c. 1867-1905|date=2009|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789047429586|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9SwCQAAQBAJ&q=bangamata+poem+rabindranath+tagore&pg=PA323|language=en}}</ref> emerged during the [[Bengali Renaissance]] and later adopted by the [[Bengali nationalism|Bengali nationalists]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0HrBJJBFutsC&q=bangamata+rabindranath+tagore&pg=PA88|title=Social Thought of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis|first=Tapati|last=Dasgupta|year=1993|publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9788170173021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ey1v6JEmvakC&q=bangamata+rabindranath+tagore&pg=PA89|title=Science, Spirituality and the Modernization of India|first=Makarand|last=Paranjape|year=2014|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=9781843317760}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://appweb.cortland.edu/ojs/index.php/Wagadu/article/viewArticle/250/464|title=Symbols of Water and Woman on Selected Examples of Modern Bengali Literature in the Context of Mythological Tradition|access-date=12 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212184455/http://appweb.cortland.edu/ojs/index.php/Wagadu/article/viewArticle/250/464|archive-date=12 December 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> '''Banga Mata''' 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 [[Bangladeshis|Bangladeshi]] and [[Indian people|Indian Bengali]] as a cultural expression and a patriotic symbol.<br />
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[[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.<ref>[[Sri Aurobindo]] commented on his English translation of the poem, saying, "It is difficult to translate the National Anthem of Bengal [[Bangladesh]] ([[East Bengal]]) and [[India]]'s [[West Bengal]] into verse in another language owing to its unique union of sweetness, simple directness and high poetic force." Quoted in Bhabatosh Chatterjee (ed.), ''Bankim Chandra Chatterjee: Essays in Perspective'', Sahitya Akademi, Delhi, 1994, p. 601.</ref><br />
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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.<br />
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==History==<br />
[[File:Map of Bengal.svg|thumb|Map of Bengal]]<br />
[[File:কোলকাতা ভাষা শহীদ মিনার.jpg|thumb|Mother Language Day Monument in Kolkata, West Bengal, showing language martyrs on the lap of Mother Bengal.<ref>https://aitcofficial.org/aitc/wb-cm-to-inaugurate-bhasha-shahid-swarak-today/</ref>]]<br />
=== Swadeshi movement ===<br />
{{Main|Swadeshi movement}}<br />
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The Swadeshi movement was a campaign that promoted self-sufficiency through the use of indigenous goods while rejecting British products.<ref>L. M. Bhole, ''Essays on Gandhian Socio-Economics'', Shipra Publications, Delhi, 2000. Chapter 14: "Savadesi: Meaning and Contemporary Relevance".</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Swadeshi Movement: Timeline and Important facts that you must know |date=7 August 2015 |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/swadeshi-movement-286966-2015-08-07 |publisher=India Today |access-date=7 August 2015 |archive-date=2018-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130232035/https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/swadeshi-movement-286966-2015-08-07 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="banga" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Partition of Bengal Date, History, Curzon, Swadeshi Movement, Annulment, & Facts Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Partition-of-Bengal |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=5 September 2025 |language=en |date=15 July 2025}}</ref><br />
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=== First Partition of Bengal ===<br />
{{Main|Partition of Bengal (1905)}}<br />
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The first incarnations of Mother Bengal, or Bangamata, emerged during resistance to the [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|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]].<ref name="britannica.com"/> 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.<ref>John R. McLane, "The Decision to Partition Bengal in 1905," ''Indian Economic and Social History Review,'' July 1965, 2#3, pp 221–237</ref><ref name="britannica.com">{{cite web|website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|title=Partition of Bengal|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/60754/partition-of-Bengal|access-date=2017-08-18}}</ref><br />
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===Bangladesh Liberation War===<br />
{{Main|Bangladesh Liberation War}}<br />
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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]].<ref name="start">{{cite news |author=Ahsan |first=Syed Badrul |author-link=Syed Badrul Ahsan |date=2012-12-01 |title=1971 and the songs we sang |work=The Daily Star |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/1971-and-the-songs-we-sang/ |access-date=2013-12-13}}</ref> 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]]<ref name="start"/><br />
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==In art and literature==<br />
* [[Vande Mataram]], by [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]]<br />
* [[Banglar Mati Banglar Jol]], by [[Rabindranath Tagore]]<br />
* Banga Amar Janani Amar, by [[Dwijendralal Ray]]<br />
* [[Bangamata (poem)]], by [[Rabindranath Tagore]]<br />
* [[Amar Sonar Bangla]], by [[Rabindranath Tagore]] in 1905<br />
*[[O Amar Desher Mati]], by [[Rabindranath Tagore]]<br />
* Bangladesh, by [[Kazi Nazrul Islam]]<br />
* Aaji Bangladesher Hridoy, by [[Rabindranath Tagore]]<br />
* Bangla Mayer Kol, by [[S. D. Burman]]; better known by first line ''Takdum Takdum Bajai ''Bangla''desher Dhol''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jiosaavn.com/lyrics/ami-takdum-takdum-bajai-lyrics/GQlbSRx8DkY|title = Ami Takdum Takdum Bajai (Full Song & Lyrics) - S. D. Burman - Download or Listen Free - JioSaavn| date=31 December 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Voice of the Bhati Regions of Bangladesh |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/echoes/the-voice-the-bhati-regions-bangladesh-163636 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref><br />
* Oh Amar Bangla Maa, by Abul Umrah Fakhruddin and Alauddin Ali<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.songtexte.com/songtext/jagoroner-gaan/o-amar-bangla-ma-tor-335fc041.html|title=Jagoroner Gaan - O Amar Bangla Ma Tor Songtext}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Alauddin Ali: The King of Melody |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/echoes/alauddin-ali-the-king-melody-191506 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[National personification]], contains the list of personifications for various nations and territories.<br />
* [[Bharat Mata]], the national personification of India as a [[mother goddess]].<br />
* [[Sri Lanka Matha]], the national personification in the national anthem of Sri Lanka as a mother goddess. <br />
* [[Ibu Pertiwi]], the national personification of [[Indonesia]].<br />
* [[Vande Mataram]], song sung in reverence of Bharat Mata and Banga Mata. <br />
* [[Joy Bangla (slogan)|Joy Bangla]]<br />
* [[Columbia (name)|Columbia]], an equivalent symbol for the United States.<br />
* [[Telugu Thalli]]<br />
* [[Janani Janmabhumishcha Swargadapi Gariyasi]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{West Bengal}}<br />
{{Symbols of Bangladesh}}<br />
{{Bangladesh topics}}<br />
{{National personifications}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}<br />
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[[Category:National personifications]]<br />
[[Category:National symbols of Bangladesh]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali nationalism]]<br />
[[Category:Personifications of country subdivisions]]</div>LayneMatos1