Bande Mataram, the nationalist song, was a part of

The nationalist song 'Bande Mataram' (or Vande Mataram) was composed by the Bengali writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. While he wrote the hymn in the 1870s as a tribute to the motherland, it gained widespread fame after being included in his 1882 semi-historical novel, 'Ananda Math' (or Anandamath) [2]. The novel's plot is set against the backdrop of the Sanyasi Rebellion and features a group of ascetic warriors known as 'Santanas' who sing the hymn as a rallying cry for the liberation of their motherland [1]. The song played a historic role during the Swadeshi movement and was later adopted as India's National Song, holding equal status with the National Anthem [4]. Other options like 'Durgesh Nandini' were also written by Bankim Chandra but do not contain this specific song.

Sources

1. [2] India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: Nationalism in India > 4 The Sense of Collective Belonging > p. 47
2. [1] Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 6: People’s Resistance Against British Before 1857 > Important Civil Uprisings > p. 140
3. [4] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2186984