Amar Sonar Bangla

"Amar Sonar Bangla" (Bengali: আমার সোনার বাংলা, lit. 'My Golden Bengal', pronounced [ˈamaɾ ˈʃonaɾ ˈbaŋla]) is the national anthem of Bangladesh. An ode to Mother Bengal, the lyrics were written by Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, while the melody is derived from Baul singer Gagan Harkara's "Ami Kothay Pabo Tare", set to Dadra tala. The modern instrumental rendition was arranged by Bangladeshi musician Samar Das.
The word amar refers to the possessive first-person singular 'my' or '(of) mine'; the word sonar is the adjectival form of the root word sona, meaning 'gold'; and the word sonar, which literally translates as 'golden' or 'made of gold', is used as a term of endearment meaning 'beloved', but in the song, the words Sonar Bangla may be interpreted to express the preciousness of Bengal.
The song was written in 1905 during the first partition of Bengal, when the ruling British Empire had an undivided province of Bengal Presidency split into two parts; the decision was announced on 20 July by the then-Viceroy of India Lord Curzon, taking effect on 16 October. This divide of Bengal, being along communal lines–East Bengal and Assam having a majority of Muslims and West Bengal having a majority of Hindus–is claimed to have been politically motivated. Along with a host of others, songs such as this were meant to rekindle the unified spirit of Bengal, to raise public consciousness against the communal political divide. The lyrics first appeared in the September issues of Bongodorshon and Baul simultaneously, in 1905. The song along with the musical notation (referred to as swaralipi in Bengali), first appeared in the periodical musical journal Shongeet Biggnan Probeshika in the same month and year. Indira Devi, Tagore's niece, Satyendranath Tagore's daughter, jotted down the musical notation hearing it from Tagore himself (this was the common norm, Tagore singing the song, and someone formally jotting down the musical notations).
The first ten lines of the original poem constitute the most commonly sung version of Bangladesh's national anthem, adopted in 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The instrumental orchestra rendition was composed by Samar Das.
The following provides the lyrics of Amar Sonar Bangla as written by Rabindranath Tagore. Only the first ten bolded lines of the original lyrics are sung as Bangladesh's national anthem. The anthem was translated into English by Syed Ali Ahsan.
From the late 1970s, Bangladeshi nationalists started to challenge Amar Sonar Bangla as the national anthem and called for adaptation of a more Bangladesh-centric national anthem. In 1975 after the 15 August coup, then President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed set a committee that proposed the replacement of the anthem with Kazi Nazrul Islam's "Notuner Gaan" or Farrukh Ahmed's "Panjeri". However, the process was halted after his removal. In 1979, in a letter sent to the Cabinet Division, then Prime Minister Shah Azizur Rahman argued that Amar Sonar Bangla was contradictory to the national identity and the culture of Bangladeshis as it was written by a person who had a non-Bangladeshi background, and proposed the patriotic song "Prothom Bangladesh" (lit. 'First is Bangladesh') for the national anthem. During the presidency of Ziaur Rahman, the song was played after Amar Sonar Bangla on national television and government programmes. However, after the death of Rahman in 1981, the initiative was stopped and the song lost its status. Today, Prothom Bangladesh is the party anthem of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
In 2002, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami proposed an amendment to the lyrics of Amar Sonar Bangla, citing Islamic values and spirit. However, the Cabinet Division rejected this proposal.
In 2019, Bangladeshi singer Mainul Ahsan Nobel, who was a runner-up in the Indian-Bengali musical show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Bangla, said that Prince Mahmud's song "Bangladesh" depicted the beauty of Bangladesh far better than Amar Sonar Bangla. This remark sparked controversy among Bangladeshis. Later, he apologized for his remark.
In a press conference on 3 September 2024, Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, retired Brigadier General of Bangladesh Army and son of Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Ghulam Azam, called for a replacement of Amar Sonar Bangla, claiming that Indian government had forced the Provisional Government of Bangladesh to adopt the song. He also argued that "Amar Sonar Bangla" contradicted with the characteristics of Bangladesh, as the song was composed in the context of the partition of Bengal to unite the two Bengals. This remark sparked controversy on historical context and the significance of the anthem across the country.
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs planned to stage an event on Bangladesh's 44th independence day, in a bid to have the world record of the most people singing a national anthem simultaneously. Consequently, on 2 March, the ministry launched a program titled Lakho Konthe Sonar Bangla (lit. 'Amar Sonar Bangla in lakh voices') whose main objective was to hold an event with the cooperation of Bangladesh Armed Forces where approximately 300,000 people would sing the national anthem. Several popular Bangladeshi musicians and cultural groups later joined the program.
The record was broken at 11:20 on 26 March 2014 by 254,537 participants at Dhaka's National Parade Ground. The event was attended by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, and all the members of the cabinet. After receiving the required evidence, the Guinness Book of World Records approved the record on 9 April 2014. The record was broken by India on 21 January 2017.