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.
History
Partition of Bengal
The first incarnations of Mother Bengal, or Bangamata, emerged during resistance to the
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. Hindus living in Western Bengal, 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.[11] 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.[12][11]
Bangladesh Liberation War
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.[13] 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”. She was an icon of freedom and
democracy against all forms of dictatorship. These patriotic songs are still immensely popular in
Bangladesh and
West Bengal.[13]
^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.