Bharata Bhagya Bidhata (Bengali: ভারত ভাগ্য বিধাতা, lit. 'Dispenser of India's destiny') is a five-stanza Brahmo hymn in Bengali.[1] It was composed and scored by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in 1913. The first stanza of the song has been adopted as the National Anthem of India.[2][3][4]
Incidentally a myth regarding this song needs to be refuted and laid to rest. It is on record that the song was written on 11 December 1911. On 12 December 1911 the Delhi Durbar met to honour King Emperor George V. Obviously a poem written on 11 December could not be intended for an event the following day. The song was actually sung at the twenty-seventh session of the Indian National Congress, Calcutta on 28 December 1911 as the opening song at the beginning of the day's proceedings. Thereafter it was also sung at the foundation day anniversary of Adi Brahma Samaj in February 1912 and included in their collection of psalms, Brahma Sangit.