'Sangh prarthana is a prayer to Bharat Mata', says Mohan Bhagwat as RSS marks 100 years

Mumbai: As Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh enters its centenary year, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that the prayer of the organisation is dedicated to Bharat Mata.

“It is an expression of devotion, love, and dedication towards Bharat Mata. It is a prayer of what we can give to the country and then to God to help us serve the country,” Bhagwat, the RSS chief, said in Nagpur, which houses the headquarters of RSS.

“While individual resolutions remain within the perspective of each swayamsevak, the shared mission and values stem from the Sangh prayer, which is recited daily,” he said.

“The Sangh prarthana is a prayer to Bharat Mata, and it has been recited daily by volunteers since 1940.

"The prayer is the collective resolution of the Sangh. The spirit of the prayer is the strength of resolve, and it's a symbol of devotion, love, and dedication to the motherland,” he reiterated.

On 27 September 1925, on the occasion of Vijayadashami, Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, popularly known as Doctorji, announced the launch of the Sangh and the name RSS came into being on 17 April 1926.

On the occasion, at a special programme held at the Reshimbagh Maharshi Vyas Auditorium in Nagpur, Bhagwat released the audio recording of the Sangh prarthana, sung by renowned vocalist and musician Shankar Mahadevan.

On 24 October, 2023, Mahadevan was the chief guest at the RSS Vijayadashami celebrations.

“Any tune (dhun) has sargam (musical notes) just like computers have binary codes behind them.

"Similarly, if our country is like a song, then swayamsevaks are like the musical notes behind it attending to various problems and challenges,” Mahadevan had said at the 2023 celebrations - after which Dr Bhagwat responded: "I knew that Shankar Mahadevan ji was a great singer…today I came to know, he is a great speaker.”

The song was recorded in a London studio with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with all foreign musicians.

Mahadevan lent his voice to the musical rendition, while the Marathi voice-over was provided by veteran actor Sachin Khedekar and the Hindi narration by Harish Bhimani.

Voice-overs were provided in eight different languages.

The original Sangh prarthana was penned by Narhari Narayan Bhide and first sung by Yadav Rao Joshi at the Sangh Shiksha Varg in Pune on April 23, 1940. The initial draft of the prayer was prepared during a meeting in Pune in 1939.