Nation Depicted in Images:

The identity of the nation is most often symbolised in a figure or image.This helps create an image with which people can identify the nation.In the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.The image was first created by Bankim Chandra ChattopadhyayMoved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms, as it circulated in popular prints, and was painted by different artists.Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

Folklores:

Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore.In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends.These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one’s national identity and restore a sense of pride in one’s past.In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival.In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature; it was ‘the most trustworthy manifestation of people’s real thoughts and characteristics’.