Bharat Mata (, Mother India in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
) is a
national personification
A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. In the first personifications in the Western World, warrior deities or figures symboliz ...
of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
(
Bharat
Bharat, or Bharath, may refer to:
* Bharat (term), the name for India in various Indian languages
** India, a country
** Bharata Khanda, the Sanskrit name for the Indian subcontinent
** Bharatavarsha, another Sanskrit name for the Indian subcon ...
) as a
mother goddess
A mother goddess is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological role of a creator- and/or destroyer-figure, typically associated the Earth, sky, ...
. Bharat Mata is commonly depicted dressed in a red or
saffron
Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...
-coloured
sari
A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...
and in more contemporary iterations, holding a
national flag
A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...
; she sometimes stands on a
lotus and is accompanied by a
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
.
The word ''Bharat Mata'' dates to late 19th century
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
in modern literature. She was popularised by the
Bengali language
Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...
-novel ''
Anandamath
''Anandamath'' ( ''Anondomôţh'') ( The Abbey of Bliss) is a Bengali historical novel, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and published in 1882. It is inspired by and set in the background of the Sannyasi Rebellion and Great Bengal ...
'' (1882), wherein she was depicted in a form inseparable from the Hindu goddesses
Durga
Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.
Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...
and
Kali
Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...
. After the controversial
division of Bengal province in 1905, she was highlighted during the
boycott of British-made goods organized by Sir
Surendranath Bannerjee
Sir Surendranath Banerjee (; 10 November 18486 August 1925), often known as Rashtraguru () was an Indian nationalist leader during the British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian National Association to bring Hindus and ...
. In numerous protest meetings, she was invoked in the rallying cry ''
Vande Mataram
Vande Mātaram (Bengali language, Original Bengali: বন্দে মাতরম্ ''Bônde Mātôrôm'' Devanagari script: वंदे मातरम्; , Transcreation: I Bow to Thee, Mother) is a poem that was adopted as the nati ...
'' (I bow to the mother).
Bharat Mata was painted as a four-armed goddess by
Abanindranath Tagore
Abanindranath Tagore (Bengali language, Bengali: অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was an Indian painter who was the principal artist and creator of the Indian Society of Oriental Art in ...
in 1904, in the style associated with the
Bengal School of Art, in a form derived from typical depictions of Hindu goddesses. This painting is
displayed in the
Victoria Memorial Museum
The Canadian Museum of Nature (; CMN) is a national natural history museum based in Canada's National Capital Region. The museum's exhibitions and public programs are housed in the Victoria Memorial Museum Building, a in Ottawa, Ontario. The m ...
in
Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
. By the late 19th century, maps of India produced by the
British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
, and based on the
Great Trigonometrical Survey
The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India was a project that aimed to carry out a survey across the Indian subcontinent with scientific precision. It was begun in 1802 by the British infantry officer William Lambton, under the auspices of t ...
, had become widely available. Over the background of a map, Bharat Mata was depicted on the cover of the poet
Subramania Bharati
Subramania Bharati (Born Chinnaswami Subramaniyan; 11 December 1882 – 11 September 1921) was an Indian writer, poet, journalist, teacher, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot. He was bestowed the title ''Bharati'' for hi ...
's
Tamil language
Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...
-magazine ''Vijaya'' in 1909. In the decades following, she appeared throughout India in popular art: in magazines, posters, and calendars, becoming a symbol of
Indian nationalism
Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, Composite nationalism (India), despite their Demographics of India, diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian national ...
.
There are a handful of Bharat Mata temples in India. The first was inaugurated by
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
in
Varanasi
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
in 1936. The temple has a large marble relief map of India on its floor, but originally lacked a
murti
In the Hinduism, Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' (, ) is a devotional image, such as a statue or icon, of a Hindu deities, deity or Hindu saints, saint used during ''Puja (Hinduism), puja'' and/or in other customary forms of actively expressing d ...
(divine image used for worship). On its wall is displayed a poem written for the inauguration by the nationalist
Hindi language
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of the Government of India, alongside English, and is the ''li ...
-poet
Maithili Sharan Gupt
Dr Maithilisharan Gupt (3 August 1886 – 12 December 1964) was one of the most important modern Hindi poets. He is considered one among the pioneers of '' Khari Boli'' (plain dialect) poetry and wrote in Khari Boli dialect, at a time when most ...
; it proclaims the temple to be open to all
caste
A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
s and religions. Most visitors to the temple are foreign tourists.
[ some ] Indian Muslims
Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the third-largest number of Muslims in the world. ...
and
Sikhs
Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...
have opposed the chanting of her name, because in
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and
Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
, God cannot be worshipped in human form.
History

The image of Bharat Mata formed with the
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
of the late 19th century. A play by
Kiran Chandra Banerjee, ''Bharat Mata'', was first performed in 1873. The play, set during the
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. The ''Manushi'' magazine story traces origin to a satirical work ''Unabimsa Purana'' or ''The Nineteenth Purana'' by
Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay which was first published anonymously in 1866.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (anglicized as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee; 26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian Bengali novelist, poet, essayist and journalist.Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The ...
in 1882 wrote a novel ''
Anandamath
''Anandamath'' ( ''Anondomôţh'') ( The Abbey of Bliss) is a Bengali historical novel, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and published in 1882. It is inspired by and set in the background of the Sannyasi Rebellion and Great Bengal ...
'' and introduced the hymn "
Vande Mātaram", 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 Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...
, the Indian nationalist developed it into an icon of nationalism.
In the 1920s, it became a more political image, sometimes including images of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
and
Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the deat ...
. 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
Varanasi
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
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.
Bipin Chandra Pal
Bipin Chandra Pal ( ; 7 November 1858 – 20 May 1932) was an Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and freedom fighter. He was one third of the " Lal Bal Pal" triumvirate. He was one of the main architects of the Swadeshi move ...
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.
Abanindranath Tagore
Abanindranath Tagore (Bengali language, Bengali: অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was an Indian painter who was the principal artist and creator of the Indian Society of Oriental Art in ...
portrayed Bharat Mata as a four-armed
Hindu goddess
Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist. Julius J. Lip ...
wearing saffron-colored robes, holding the manuscripts, sheaves of rice, a
mala, and a white cloth. The image of Bharatmata was an icon to create nationalist feeling in Indians during the freedom struggle.
Sister Nivedita
Sister Nivedita ( born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; 28 October 1867 – 13 October 1911) was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and early youth in Ireland. She wa ...
, 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;
white halo and sincere eyes; and gifts Shiksha-Diksha-Anna-Bastra of the
motherland
A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...
to her children.

Indian Independence activist
Subramania Bharati
Subramania Bharati (Born Chinnaswami Subramaniyan; 11 December 1882 – 11 September 1921) was an Indian writer, poet, journalist, teacher, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot. He was bestowed the title ''Bharati'' for hi ...
saw Bharat Mata as the land of
Ganga
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...
. He identified Bharat Mata as
Mahadevi
Mahadevi (, , IPA: / mɐɦɑd̪eʋiː/), also referred to as Adi Parashakti, and Mahamaya, is the supreme goddess in Hinduism. According to the goddess-centric sect Shaktism, all Hindu gods and goddesses are considered to be manifestations of t ...
. He also says that he has got the
Darśana
In Indian religions, a ''darshan'' (Sanskrit: दर्शन, ; 'showing, appearance, view, sight') or ''darshanam'' is the auspicious sight of a deity or a holy person.
The term also refers to any one of the six traditional schools of Hind ...
of Bharat Mata during his visit with his guru
Sister Nivedita
Sister Nivedita ( born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; 28 October 1867 – 13 October 1911) was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and early youth in Ireland. She wa ...
..
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. This association has caused controversy with devout Muslims, whose belief in the
oneness of God
''Tawhid'' () is the concept of monotheism in Islam, it is the religion's central and single most important concept upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one (''ahad'') and si ...
keeps them from assigning divinity to any god other than
Allah
Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...
.
The motto ''Bharat Mata ki Jai'' ("Victory for Mother India") is used by the
Indian Army
The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...
. In contemporary colloquial usage, however, the expression is analogous to "Long live Mother India" or "Salute to Mother India." (See also
Jai Hind
Jai Hind (, ) is a salutation and slogan that means "Hail India", "Long live India", or literally "Victory orIndia" as originally coined by Zain-ul Abideen Hasan, also known as Abid Hasan Safrani, an officer in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's In ...
.) Muslim-majority
Indonesia's several dozen national armed units also use
Hindu-origin Sanskrit language
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
mottoes, including the
National Armed Forces
National Armed Forces (; NSZ) was a Polish right-wing underground military organization of the National Democracy (Poland), National Democracy operating from 1942. During World War II, NSZ troops fought against Nazi Germany and Gwardia Ludowa, c ...
,
Army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
,
Navy
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
, for example the
Indonesian Air Force
The Indonesian Air Force (, sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF) is the Air force, aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Indonesian Air Force is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is headed by the Chief of Staff of th ...
's motto ''Swabhuana Paksa'' ("Wings of The Motherland") and the
Indonesian National Police
The Indonesian National Police (, abbreviated as POLRI) is the national law enforcement and police force of the Republic of Indonesia. Founded on 1 July 1946, it was formerly a part of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, country's military si ...
's motto ''Rastra Sewakottama'' ("Nation's Best Servants").
Temples
Varanasi
The
Bharat Mata Temple is located in the
Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth
Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith is a public university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Established on 10 February 1921 as Kashi Vidyapith and later renamed, it is administered under the state legislature of the government of Uttar Pra ...
campus in
Varanasi
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
.
[IMPORTANT TEMPLES OF VARANASI]
The temple houses a marble idol of Bharat Mata along with a marble relief map of India.
The Temple, a gift from the nationalists Shiv Prasad Gupta
Shiv Prasad Gupta (28 June 1883 – 24 April 1944) was a visionary, philanthropist, a leader of the Indian Freedom Movement and the founder of the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth. Though belonging to a very wealthy industrialist and "Jam ...
and Durga Prasad Khatri, was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
in 1936.[ Mahatma Gandhi said, "I hope this temple, which will serve as a cosmopolitan platform for people of all religions, castes, and creeds including ]Harijans
Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varn ...
, will go a great way in promoting religious unity, peace, and love in the country."
Haridwar
The temple was founded by Swami Satyamitranand on the banks of the Ganges
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
in Haridwar
Haridwar (; ; formerly Mayapuri) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district.
The city is s ...
. It has 8 storeys and is 180 feet tall. It was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...
in 1983. Floors are dedicated to mythological legends, religious deities, freedom fighters and leaders.[Bharat Mata Temple](_blank)
/ref>
Kolkata
The temple is located in Michael Nagar on Jessore Road, barely 2 km away from the Kolkata Airport
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport () is an international airport serving the city of Kolkata and the Kolkata metropolitan area, the capital metropolis of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the primary aviation hub for eas ...
. Here, Bharat Mata is portrayed through the image of ''"Jagattarini Durga
Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.
Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...
"''. This was inaugurated on October 19, 2015 (Mahashashti Day of Durga Puja that year) by Keshari Nath Tripathi
Keshari Nath Tripathi (10 November 1934 – 8 January 2023) was an Indian politician, who served as Governor of West Bengal from July 2014 to July 2019 and also as Governor of Bihar, Meghalaya, and Mizoram at various times. He was a member of ...
, the Governor of West Bengal
The Governor of West Bengal is the nominal head of the Indian state of West Bengal. The governor is appointed by the president of India. C. V. Ananda Bose is the incumbent governor, having taken office on 18 November 2022.
History
In 1911 the ...
. 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
Vande Mātaram (Bengali language, Original Bengali: বন্দে মাতরম্ ''Bônde Mātôrôm'' Devanagari script: वंदे मातरम्; , Transcreation: I Bow to Thee, Mother) is a poem that was adopted as the nati ...
"''.
Kurukshetra
In July 2019, the Chief Minister of Haryana
The chief minister of Haryana is the chief executive of the Indian state of Haryana. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following ele ...
, Manohar Lal Khattar
Manohar Lal Khattar (born 5 May 1954) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the Minister of Power and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs in the central Modi government since June 2024. A prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata P ...
, granted 5 acre land near Mahabharta
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
-era Jyotisar
Jyotisar, on the bank of Jyotisar Sarovar wetland, is a Hindu pilgrimage site in the city of Kurukshetra in Haryana state of India. According to Hindu tradition, Krishna delivered the sermon of ''Bhagavad Gita'' – the doctrine of ''Karma'' ...
tirth to the ''"Bharat Mata Trust"'' of ''"Juna Akhara
Akhara or Akhada (Hindi: अखाड़ा, romanised: ''Akhāṛā'') is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists or a ''sampradaya'' monastery fo ...
"'' to construct the next temple of Bharat Mata.[Bharat Mata's third temple will be built in Kurukshetra, 5 acres of land will be near Jyotisar](_blank)
/ref>
See also
* General
** Bharat Mata Mandir
Bharat Mata Mandir (meaning "Mother India Temple") is located on the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith campus in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Instead of traditional statues of gods and goddesses, this temple has a huge map of Akhand Bharat ca ...
** Bharat Mata (painting), by the Abanindranath Tagore the brother or Ravindranath Tagore
** Mother India (magazine)
* National god
A national god or tribal god is a guardian deity whose special concern is supposed to be the safety and well-being of an 'ethnic group' (''nation''). This is contrasted with other guardian figures such as family gods responsible for the well-be ...
** National personification
A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. In the first personifications in the Western World, warrior deities or figures symboliz ...
** Tutelary deity
A tutelary (; also tutelar) is a deity or a Nature spirit, spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept ...
** Banga Mata, Mother Bangla
** Tamil Thai
Tamil Thai (alternatively spelled Tamil Tai or Thamizh Thai), known in English as Mother Tamil, refers to the allegorical and sometimes anthropomorphic personification of the Tamil language, Tamil language as a mother. There is a temple located ...
, Mother Tamil
** Telugu Thalli, Mother Telugu
** Telangana Thalli, Mother Telangana
* Anthems and mottos
** Jai Hind
Jai Hind (, ) is a salutation and slogan that means "Hail India", "Long live India", or literally "Victory orIndia" as originally coined by Zain-ul Abideen Hasan, also known as Abid Hasan Safrani, an officer in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's In ...
, a salutation and slogan that means "Hail India"
** Janani Janmabhumishcha Swargadapi Gariyasi, "mother and motherland are more sacred than the heaven"
** Jana Gana Mana
"" is the national anthem of the Republic of India. It was originally composed as " Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata" in Bengali by polymath and activist Rabindranath Tagore on 11 December 1911. The first stanza of the song " Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata" ...
, the Indian national anthem
** Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate
Jaya Bhārata Jananiya Tanujāte, Jaya Hē Karnāṭaka Māte (; ) is a Kannada-language poem composed by Kuvempu. The poem was officially declared the state anthem of the Indian state of Karnataka in 2004. The Hindu – 11 January 2006
The po ...
, anthem in Kannada language for Mother India
** Vande Mataram
Vande Mātaram (Bengali language, Original Bengali: বন্দে মাতরম্ ''Bônde Mātôrôm'' Devanagari script: वंदे मातरम्; , Transcreation: I Bow to Thee, Mother) is a poem that was adopted as the nati ...
, hail the motherland
** National Pledge of India
** List of Indian state anthems
References
External links
*
* The Hindu, August 17, 2003.
The life and times of Bharat Mata
Sadan Jha, Manushi, Issue 142.
Prof. Pritchett, Columbia University
{{HinduMythology
Toponyms for India
National personifications
Hindu goddesses
Mother goddesses
National symbols of India
Hindu nationalism
Indian independence movement
Forms of Durga