2006 observed as centenary year of Vande Mataram

New Delhi, Dec 5: The song "Vande Mataram" , composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee sometime in the early 1870s, caught the public imagination and became a rallying point during the Swadeshi agitation in Bengal in 1905, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeswari said in a written reply that the song was also sung at the Benaras (varanasi) session of the Indian National Congress in 1905. Against this background the year 2006 was observed as the centenary year of "Vande Mataram" and 7th September as a date to mark the occation.

UNI