The song Jana-gana-mana, com¬posed by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted by the Con¬stituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January, 1950. It was first sung on 27 December, 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas. First stanza con¬sists of full version of the national anthem. It reads:
Jana-gana-mana-adhinayka, jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Punjab-Sindhu-Gujarath-Maratha-
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchala-Jaladhi-Taranga.
Tava Shubha name jage,
Tava Shudha asisa mange,
Gahe tava jaya-gatha,
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya jaya he.
Playing time of the full version of the National Anthem is approximately 52 seconds. A short version con-sisting of first and last lines of the stanza (playing time approximately 20 seconds) is also played on certain occa-sions. The following is Tagore’s English rendering of this stanza:
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people, dispenser of india’s destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengali;.

It echoes in the hills of the Vindhiyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise. The saving of all people waits in thy hand, thou dispenser of India’s destiny, Victory, Victory, Victory to thee.
National Song: The song Vande Mataram, composed by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana. The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1986 session of the Indian National Congress. The following is the text of its first stanza :
Vande Mataram :
Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja shitalam, Sasyashyamalam, Mataram ! Shubhrajyotsna pulakitayaminim, Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim, Sumadhura suhasinim bhashinim, Sukhadam varadam, Mataram !
English translation of the stanza rendered by Sri Aurobindo in prose is : I bow to thee. Mother, richly-watered, richly-fruited, cool with the winds of the south, dark with the crops of the harvests, the Mother ?
Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight, her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,
sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,
the Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.
National Calendar : National Calendar based on the Saka Era with Chaitra as its first month and normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March, 1957 along with Gregorian calendar for the following official purposes: (i) Gazette of India, (ii) news broadcasts by All India Radio, (iii), calendars issued by the Government of India and (iv) Government communications addressed to the members of public.
Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of Gregorian calendar: 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normally and on 21 March in leap year.
National Animal: The magnificent Tiger Panthera tigiris (linnaeus), the national animal of India, is a rich-coloured well-striped animal with a shrot coat. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger great respect and high esteem. Out of eight races of the species known, the Indian race known as the Royal Bengal Tiger, is found throughout the country except the north-western region, and also in the neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The tiger occupies a veriety of habitats from dry open jungles, humid ever-green forests to mangrove swamps To check the dwindling population of tigers in India, which came down to just 1,827 in 1972, a massive conser-vation piogramme was initiated in April 1973, known as the ‘Project Tiger’. This project aims to maintain a viable popu-lation of tigers in India for scientific, economic, aestetic, cultural and ecological values. Since then the tiger popula-tion has shown a gradual increase and the census of 1989 put the tiger population of the country at 4,334. So far, 19 tiger reserves have been established in the country under this project, covering over 29,716 sq km forest area.
National Bird : The Indian peacock Pavo Cristatus (linnaeus) is a colourful, swan-sized bird with a fan-shaped crest of feathers on its head, a white patch under the eye and a long-slender neck, The male of the species is more colourful than.the female with glistening blue breast and neck and a. spectacular bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers. The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male and it lacks the train. The elaborate courtship dance of the male by fanning out the tail and quivering the feathers is a gorgeous sight.
The peacock is widely found in the Indian-Sub-continent from the south and east of the Indus river, Jammu and Kashmir, east to Assam, south to Mizoram and the whole of the Indian peninsula. The peacock enjoys full protection from the people as it is never molested on religious and sentimental grounds. It is fully protected under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.