Odisha Cabinet accords State Anthem status to ‘Bande Utkala Janani’

Bhubaneswar: In a historic move, Odisha Government today declared ‘Bande Utkala Janani’ as the State Anthem at Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

‘Bande Utkala Janani’ is now the Anthem of Odisha following approval by the State Cabinet, informed Forest & Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Aarukh after Cabinet meeting today.

Briefing media, the Minister said, “Responding to a call by CM Naveen Patnaik, the way Odia people across the globe crooned ‘Bande Utkala Janani…’ to honour Corona warriors at 5.30 pm on May 30 was incomparable indeed. Entire Odisha right from rural and urban areas was reverberated with the song and it showed people’s love for Odia race.”

To keep the memory alive, around 10 lakh people from Odisha have sent the videos featuring them singing ‘Bande Utkala Janani…’ to the State Government expressing their gratitude towards CM Naveen Patnaik for his noble purpose.

The song Bande Utkala Janani… is a timeless creation of great poet of Odisha (Kanta Kabi) Lakhmikanata Mohapatra. Filled with patriotism, the poem inspires every Odia to move forward in life. The State will remain obliged to the great poet for his selfless effort to bind entire Odia race and language in a single thread, Aarukh said.

The timeless poem Bande Utkala Janani penned Lakhmikanata Mohapatra by is being sung since 1912 in different sessions of Utkala Sammilani. It continues to remain in every Odia’s heart and emotion as the State Anthem since April 1, 1936 when Odisha got the special statehood status.

On November 9, 1994, the Government led by late Chief Minister Biju Patnaik had decided a meeting chaired by the then Assembly Speaker to sing Bande Utkala Janani…as the concluding song on final day of every Assembly session in Odisha. Since then, it is being sung in the Assembly, Aarukh said.

Therefore, the Government has decided to approve Bande Utkala Janani as the State Anthem to honour feelings of 4.5 crore Odia population in the State, he said.

However, the anthem can be sung under following conditions:

1. The complete song written by Kanta Kabi is approved as the State Anthem
2. The particular tone and style in which the song will be sung will be decided by State I&PR Department
3. The anthem will be played or sung at different official programmes and Assembly sessions without lyre
4. The anthem will be played or sung with lyre in schools, colleges, meetings, cultural events
5. Whenever the anthem is sung or played, all shall stand to attention. However, senior citizens, patients, infants, persons with physically challenged and pregnant women are exempted from the rule.
6. The anthem will be played on various occasions with different lyres including police band, flute and sitar
7. There will be no restrictions on creative presentation for promoting the anthem
8. The School & Mass Education Department and Higher Education Department directed to include the anthem in school and college curriculum.