Updated: March 2, 2019 12:30:28 am
Room 204 and the Hall of Fame
How our National Anthem was composed and translated into English a century ago, on this day
Written by Manoj Pande
It all began in Room no 204. Its stone walls for the first time had heard the English rendering of our National Anthem, by its author Rabindranath Tagore. The Besant Theosophical College in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, may not be in public memory currently, but its unique history is tied to India’s freedom movement.
Madanapalle is a town in Chitoor district, which was then a part of the Madras Presidency and is now in Andhra Pradesh. It is also the birthplace of the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthy. Horsley Hills, a quaint small hill station, is nearby as is the Rishi Valley School.
Theosophical College at Madanapalle was set up and formally opened by the then Governor of Madras, Lord Pentland on July 19, 1915, in the presence of Annie Besant. It was initially affiliated to the Madras University, but disaffiliated in June 1917 due to the involvement of Besant in the Home Rule Movement.
Tagore was the Chancellor of the University, while James Henry Cousins, a poet himself, was the Principal.
Tagore was travelling across south India and chose to rest at Madanpalle from February 25 to March 2, 1919. He stayed at a cottage known as Olcot Bungalow (named after Colonel Henry Steel Olcot, one of the founders of the Theosophical Society), which was near the college.
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