150 Years of ‘Vande Mataram’: How India’s Freedom Slogan Became the Hallmark of RSS

New Delhi: As the nation celebrates 150 years of the national song Vande Mataram, the Parliament’s winter session highlighted its historic and cultural significance. Composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the anthem has long been a clarion call for India’s independence movement. Today, it also serves as a defining symbol for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a connection almost as old as the organization itself.

The Significance of ‘Vande Mataram’ for RSS
According to News18, Sunil Ambekar, the All India Propaganda Chief of RSS, described Vande Mataram as the mantra of India’s freedom struggle. “It instilled the spirit of serving the motherland. Revolutionaries adopted it as a sacred chant, often sacrificing their lives while singing it. For RSS, Vande Mataram embodies the soul of the nation and its truest expression,” he said.

Headgear for Singing Vande Mataram
Ambekar shared the story of how RSS founder Dr. K. B. Hedgewar personally embraced Vande Mataram. As a school student in Nagpur during the Bengal Partition and revolutionary upheavals of 1906–1911, Hedgewar defied the British ban on the song. He led his first act of resistance by chanting Vande Mataram at school, for which he was expelled. “This expulsion became a symbol of honor for him. He later joined a national school and eventually moved to Kolkata to pursue medical studies,” Ambekar said.

A Symbol of National Renewal
For RSS, Vande Mataram represents more than the struggle for freedom; it symbolizes a call to national responsibility and cultural awakening in independent India. Ambekar noted, “The meaning of Vande Mataram did not end the day India gained independence. It is a resolve, a commitment, which continues to keep the nation aware of its duties.” This is why Vande Mataram is sung at every RSS event, considered by the organization as a national hymn akin to a devotional song for the nation.