A view of the Ministry of Culture tableau during the 77th Republic Day Parade, at Kartavya Path, in New Delhi on January 26, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI
On the cold Monday (January 26, 2026) morning, as hundreds of attendees queued outside several enclosures named after Indian rivers, walls made of hoardings featuring all six stanzas of the Vande Mataram welcomed them to celebrate the 150th year of the national song. The hoardings featured a series of paintings created by Tejendra Kumar Mitra in 1923, illustrating verses of the Vande Mataram, and published in the Bande Mataram Album (1923), which were displayed as view-cutters along Kartavya Path.
Republic Day: Follow LIVE updates, highlights from the celebrations on January 26, 2026
The notes of the song rang clear as the Union Culture Ministry’s tableau, themed around ‘Vande Mataram: Swatantrata ka Mantra (freedom chant)’, rolled out on the Kartavya Path here. The display traced the journey of the song across generations.
The front of the tableau displayed the manuscript of the Vande Mataram being composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, with his image displayed on a lower panel. A moving tractor carried the complete original manuscript, featuring all six stanzas of the song. The middle section of the tableau brought together artistes in traditional attire, representing India’s rich folk diversity, alongside performers in modern clothing symbolising the younger Gen Z. Together, they reflected how the song continues to unite Indians across time.
West Bengal’s tableau included a statue of the late composer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, too. Although the theme of the entire event was an ode to the 150th year of the Vande Mataram, the West Bengal government’s tableau included it as part of the State’s homage to freedom fighters, who culturally and intellectually awakened Indian minds with such songs.
Another tableau by the Central Public Works Department also commemorated the milestone. Its front featured a burning torch, symbolising the Vande Mataram as the guiding light of India’s freedom struggle, and the rear depicted Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Most tableaux of the State and Union Territories at this year’s Republic Day parade reflected the Vande Mataram theme, turning the Kartavya Path into a grand showcase of the full version of the national song.
As the day progressed, dozens of dancers from different States, dressed in multicoloured costumes, poured onto the Kartavya Path to perform the national song. The performers struck evocative poses through out the entire rendition of the national song.
Published – January 26, 2026 09:43 pm IST
