>Dirkbb at 20:37, 22 June 2021

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{{short description|National personification of India}}
{{About|the national personification of [[India]]|the painting by [[Abanindranath Tagore]]|Bharat Mata (painting)|the Hindi film|Mother India}}
[[File:Bharat-mata.png|thumb|An Illustration of Bharat Mata|alt=]]
'''Bhārat Mātā''' ([[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], from [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] '''Bhāratāmbā''' {{lang|sa|भारताम्बा}}; अम्बा ''ambā'' means 'mother', also known as '''Mother India''' in [[Indian English|English]]) is the [[national personification]] of [[India]] as a [[mother goddess]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scroll.in/article/805247/history-lessons-how-bharat-mata-became-the-code-word-for-a-theocratic-hindu-state|title=History lesson: How 'Bharat Mata' became the code word for a theocratic Hindu state}}</ref> She is usually depicted as a woman clad in a [[Saffron (color)|saffron]] [[sari]] holding the [[Flag of India|Indian national flag]], and sometimes accompanied by a [[lion]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=cMJMNvvpEuYC&pg=PA181&dq=Haridwar+temple+of+Bharat+Mata&hl=en&ei=t_L8TbW9GNDyrQfv4-XiDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=1&ved=0CDwQuwUwAA#v=snippet&q=Bharat%20Mata%2C%20contemporary%20picture%22&f=false Visualizing space in Banaras: images, maps, and the practice of representation], Martin Gaenszle, Jörg Gengnagel, illustrated, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006, {{ISBN|978-3-447-05187-3}}</ref>

==Introduction and meaning==
[[File:1909magazine vijaya.jpg|thumb|250px|Cover of a 1909 issue of the [[Tamil language|Tamil]] magazine ''Vijaya'' showing "Bharat Mata" (Mother India) with her diverse progeny and the rallying cry "[[Vande Mataram]]”.]]
The concept of ''bhārat mātā as the'' personification of the Indian [[Indian subcontinent|subcontinent]] came into existence starting in the late 19th century, especially after the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] against the [[Company rule in India|British]]. Bhārat Mātā as a concept was first perceived to be an image of the land of India prominently by [[Bankimchandra Chatterjee]] in his book ''Anand Math'' in 1880 and by Abanindranath Tagore through a 1905 [[Bharat Mata (painting)|painting]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scroll.in/article/805990/far-from-being-eternal-bharat-mata-is-only-a-little-more-than-100-years-old|title=Far from being eternal, Bharat Mata is only a little more than 100 years old}}</ref>

==Historic perspective==
The image of Bhāratmātā formed with the [[Indian independence movement]] of the late 19th century. A play by [[Kiran Chandra Bannerjee]], ''Bhārat Mātā'', was first performed in 1873. The play, set during the [[Great Bengal famine of 1770|1770 Bengal famine]], depicts a woman and her husband who go to the forest and encounter rebels. A priest takes them to a temple where they are shown Bharat Mata. Thus they are inspired and lead a rebellion which results in the defeat of the British.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scroll.in/article/805990/far-from-being-eternal-bharat-mata-is-only-a-little-more-than-100-years-old|title=Far from being eternal, Bharat Mata is only a little more than 100 years old}}</ref> The ''Manushi'' magazine story traces origin to a satirical work ''Unabimsa Purana'' or ''The Nineteenth Purana'' by [[Bhudev Mukhopadhyay|Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay]] which was first published anonymously in 1866.<ref name="Roche 2016">{{cite web | last=Roche | first=Elizabeth | title=The origins of Bharat Mata | website=livemint.com/ | date=17 March 2016 | url=http://www.livemint.com/Politics/lSOX1BWMcgypBUV8mUb8cJ/The-origins-of-Bharat-Mata.html | access-date=22 March 2017}}</ref> [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]] in 1882 wrote a novel ''[[Anandamath]]'' and introduced the hymn "[[Vande Mātaram]]",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/a-mothers-worship-why-some-muslims-find-it-difficult-to-say-bharat-mata-ki-jai/|title=A Mother's worship: Why some Muslims find it difficult to say 'Bharat Mata ki jai'}}</ref><ref>Kinsley, David. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=hgTOZEyrVtIC Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions]''. Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, India. {{ISBN|81-208-0379-5}}. pp. 181-182.</ref> which soon became the song of the emerging freedom movement in India. As the British Raj created cartographic shape of India through the [[Geological Survey of India]], the Indian nationalist developed it into an icon of nationalism. In 1920s, it became more political image sometimes including images of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and [[Bhagat Singh]]. The [[Tiranga]] flag was also started being included during this period. In 1930s, the image entered in religious practice. The Bharat Mata temple was built in [[Benaras]] in 1936 by Shiv Prashad Gupt and was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. This temple does not have any statuary but only a marble relief of the map of India.<ref name="Roche 2016"/>
[[File:Bharathamatha.JPG|left|thumb|Bharat Mata statue at [[Kanyakumari]] (India)]][[Bipin Chandra Pal]] elaborated its meaning in idealizing and idealist terms, along with Hindu philosophical traditions and devotional practices. It represented an archaic spiritual essence, a transcendental idea of Universe as well as expressing Universal Hinduism and nationhood.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=s71oeW6SxzQC&pg=PA265&dq=Haridwar+temple+of+Bharat+Mata&hl=en&ei=t_L8TbW9GNDyrQfv4-XiDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=3&ved=0CEYQuwUwAg#v=onepage&q=archaic%20spiritual%20essence&f=false Producing India], Manu Goswami, Orient Blackswan, 2004, {{ISBN|978-81-7824-107-4}}</ref>

[[Abanindranath Tagore]] portrayed Bhārat Mātā as a four-armed [[Hindu goddess]] wearing saffron-colored robes, holding the manuscripts, sheaves of rice, a [[Hindu prayer beads|mala]], and a white cloth.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ipajdspYL00C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=snippet&q=%22the%20future%20of%20the%20British%20Policy%22&f=false Specters of Mother India: the global restructuring of an empire], Mrinalini Sinha, Zubaan, 2006, {{ISBN|978-81-89884-00-0}}</ref> The image of Bharatmata was an icon to create nationalist feeling in Indians during the freedom struggle. [[Sister Nivedita]], an admirer of the painting, opined that the picture was refined and imaginative, with Bharatmata standing on green earth and blue sky behind her; feet with four lotuses, four arms meaning divine power; [[Halo (religious iconography)|white halo]] and sincere eyes; and gifts Shiksha-Diksha-Anna-Bastra of the [[motherland]] to her children.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OWfcoMnHU8gC&pg=PA169&dq=Haridwar+temple+of+Bharat+Mata&hl=en&ei=t_L8TbW9GNDyrQfv4-XiDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=4&ved=0CEsQuwUwAw#v=onepage&q=Shiksha-diksha-anna-bastra&f=false The Goddess and the Nation: Mapping Mother India], Sumathi Ramaswamy, Duke University Press, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-8223-4610-4}}</ref>

[[File:Bharat Mata Temple map.jpg|thumb|right|x216px|The relief map of India as Bharat Mata, carved out of [[marble]] at [[Bharat Mata Mandir]], [[Varanasi]]]]
Indian Independence activist [[Subramania Bharati]] saw Bharat Mata as the land of [[Ganga]]. He identified Bharat Mata as [[Adi Parashakti]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hvk.org/2010/0810/31.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-03-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310070153/http://www.hvk.org/2010/0810/31.html |archive-date=2016-03-10 }}</ref> He also says that he has got the [[Darśana]] of Bharat Mata during his visit with his guru [[Sister Nivedita]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

==Significance==
In the book ''Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India'', Kalyani Devaki Menon argues that ''"''the vision of India as Bharat Mata has profound implications for the politics of Hindu nationalism''"'' and that the depiction of India as a Hindu goddess implies that it is not just the patriotic but also the religious duty of all Hindus to participate in the nationalist struggle to defend the nation.<ref>Kalyani Devaki Menon, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=hSnn_kDUI6AC Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India: The Ethnography of Political Violence]'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-8122-4196-9}}, p. 89f.</ref> This association has caused controversy with devout Muslims, whose belief in the [[Tawhid|oneness of God]] keeps them from assigning divinity to any god other than [[Allah]].<ref>[https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/asaduddin-owaisi-bharat-mata-ki-jai-whats-wrong-in-saying-bharat-mata-ki-jai-congress/ What’s wrong in saying Bharat Mata Ki Jai: Congress], [[Indian Express]].</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Patriotism in India: Oh mother: A nationalist slogan sends sectarian sparks|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21696537-nationalist-slogan-sends-sectarian-sparks-oh-mother|access-date=9 April 2016|work=[[The Economist]]|date=9 April 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://www.dailyo.in/politics/asaduddin-owaisi-sloganeering-in-parliament-vande-mataram-vande-mataram-national-song-bankim-chandra-chatterjee/story/1/31179.html The Sound of Dog-Whistling: 'Vande Mataram' itself is not communal.], DailyO, 2019.</ref><ref name="deccanchronicle.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/op-ed/220316/thinking-allowed-feeling-seditious-or-patriotic.html|title=Thinking Allowed: Feeling seditious or patriotic?|date=21 March 2016|work=[[Deccan Chronicle]]|type=Opinion|access-date=30 October 2016}}</ref> However, Muslims of Muslim majority [[Bangladesh]], specially the [[Bengali nationalism|Bangladeshi nationalists]], revere a similar personification of Bangladesh as [[Bangamata]] (the ''"Mother Bangladesh"''), though it is not as a goddess but an abstract reference to the motherland.<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>{{Failed verification|date=March 2020}}

[[File:Bharat Mata.jpg|thumb|The saffron clad goddess [[Bharat Mata (painting)|Bharat Mata]], [[Bharat Mata (painting)|a painting]] by [[Abanindranath Tagore]]|alt=|left]]The motto ''Bharat Mata ki Jai’'' ("Victory for Mother India") is used by the [[Indian Army]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Vinay Kumar|title=It is Jai Hind for Army personnel|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/it-is-jai-hind-for-army-personnel/article3958180.ece|access-date=8 October 2012|location=Chennai, India|work=The Hindu|date=2 October 2012}}</ref> In contemporary colloquial usage, however, the expression is analogous to "Long live Mother India" or "Salute to Mother India." [[Jai Hind]] Muslims majority [[List of military unit mottoes by country#Indonesia|Indonesia's several dozen national armed units]] also use [[Indianization of Southeast Asia|hindu-origin]] [[Indosphere|sanskrit language]] mottoes, including the [[Indonesian National Armed Forces|National Armed Forces]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tni.mil.id/index2.php?page=doktrin.html|title=TNI Doctrine|publisher=www.tni.mil.id|access-date=28 May 2018}}</ref> [[Indonesian Army|Army]], [[Indonesian Navy|Navy]], for example the [[Indonesian Air Force]]'s motto ''Swabhuana Paksa'' ("Wings of The Motherland") and the [[Indonesian National Police]]'s motto ''Rastra Sewakottama'' or "'''राष्ट्र सेवकोत्तम'''" ("Nation's main servants").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.polri.go.id/tentang-logo.php|title=Arti Lambang Polri (Meaning of the national police symbol)|publisher=www.polri.go.id|access-date=28 May 2018|archive-date=13 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513224551/https://www.polri.go.id/tentang-logo.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Bhārat Mātā temples==

===Varanasi===
The [[Bharat Mata Mandir|Bharat Mata Temple]] is located in the [[Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth]] campus in [[Varanasi]].<ref name=BHARAT-MATA-TEMPLE>[http://varanasi.nic.in/temple/various_temples.html#BHARAT%20MATA%20TEMPLE IMPORTANT TEMPLES OF VARANASI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105032502/http://varanasi.nic.in/temple/various_temples.html#BHARAT%20MATA%20TEMPLE |date=2012-11-05 }}, [http://varanasi.nic.in/default.htm varanasi.nic.in] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628050118/http://varanasi.nic.in/default.htm |date=2011-06-28 }}</ref> The temple houses a marble idol of Bharat Mata along with a marble relief map of India.<ref name=BHARAT-MATA-TEMPLE/><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20110211043538/http://varanasicity.com/temples/bharatmata-mandir.html</ref>

The Temple, a gift from the nationalists [[Shiv Prasad Gupta]] and Durga Prasad Khatri, was inaugurated by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] in 1936.<ref name=BHARAT-MATA-TEMPLE/> Mahatma Gandhi said, "I hope this temple, which will serve as a cosmopolitan platform for people of all religions, castes, and creeds including [[Harijan]]s, will go a great way in promoting religious unity, peace, and love in the country."<ref name="Eck2012">{{citation|last=Eck|first=Diana L|title=India: A Sacred Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNlJOSf__xYC&pg=PA100|date=27 March 2012|publisher=Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony|isbn=978-0-385-53191-7|pages=100–}}</ref>[[File:Bharat Mata at Jatiya Shaktipeeth, Kolkata.jpg|alt=Bharat Mata at Jatiya Shaktipeeth, Kolkata|thumb|Bharat Mata at Jatiya Shaktipeeth, Kolkata]]

===Haridwar===
The temple was founded by [[Swami Satyamitranand]] Giri on the banks of the [[Ganges]] in [[Haridwar]]. It has 8 storeys and is 180 feet tall.<ref name="mapsofIndia.com" /> It was inaugurated by [[Indira Gandhi]] in 1983.<ref name="mapsofIndia.com" /> Floors are dedicated to mythological legends, religious deities, freedom fighters and leaders.<ref name="mapsofIndia.com">[http://www.mapsofindia.com/haridwar/tourism/bharat-mata-temple.html Bharat Mata Temple], [http://www.mapsofindia.com/haridwar/tourism/bharat-mata-temple.html mapsofIndia.com]</ref>

=== Kolkata ===
The temple is located in Michael Nagar on Jessore Road, barely 2 km away from the [[Kolkata Airport]]. Here, Bharat Mata (the Mother Land) is portrayed through the image of ''"Jagattarini [[Durga]]"''. This was inaugurated on October 19, 2015 (Mahashashti Day of Durga Puja that year)<ref name="worldhindunews.com">[http://www.worldhindunews.com/2015/08/14/46796/invitation-at-jatiya-shaktipeeth-inaugural-ceremony/ Bharat Mata Mandir]</ref> by Shri [[Keshari Nath Tripathi]], the [[Governor of West Bengal]]. The initiative to build the temple, which has been named ''Jatiya Shaktipeeth'', was taken by the ''[[Spiritual Society of India]]'' in order to mark the 140th Anniversary of ''"[[Vande Mataram]]"'', the hymn to the Mother Land.

===Kurukshetra ===
In July 2019, the [[Chief Minister of Haryana]], [[Manohar Lal Khattar]], granted 5 acre land near [[Mahabharta]]-era [[Jyotisar]] [[Tirtha (Hinduism)|tirth]] to the ''"Bharat Mata Trust"'' of ''"Juna [[Akhara]]"'' to construct the next temple of Bharat Mata.<ref name="worldhindunews.com1">[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=hi&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amarujala.com%2Fchandigarh%2Fmother-india-third-temple-will-construct-in-kurukshetra-of-haryana%3FpageId%3D2 Bharat Mata's third temple will be built in Kurukshetra, 5 acres of land will be near Jyotisar]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Bharat Mata Mandir]]
* [[Bangamata|Banga Mata]]
* [[Sri Lanka Matha|Sri Lanka Mata]]
* [[Telugu Thalli]]
* [[Siam Devadhiraj]]
* [[Vande Mataram]]
* [[Mother India (magazine)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110311102937/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2003/08/17/stories/2003081700160200.htm Patriotic fervour] The Hindu, August 17, 2003.
* [http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/issue142/bharat.htm The life and times of Bharat Mata] Sadan Jha, Manushi, Issue 142.
* [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/congress/bharatmata/bharatmata.html Bharat Mata Images] Prof. Pritchett, Columbia University

{{National personifications}}
{{HinduMythology}}

[[Category:Toponyms for India]]
[[Category:National personifications]]
[[Category:Hindu goddesses]]
[[Category:Mother goddesses]]
[[Category:National symbols of India]]
[[Category:Hindu nationalism]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]

Bharat Mata - Revision history

>Dirkbb at 20:37, 22 June 2021