Anandamath - Bankim Chandra Chatterji

I had no idea how I came to know about this book. When I chose this book to read and kept on thinking about the source of this book's introduction to me. I did not find any. That itself made me to read this book in a stretch.About the author, as most Indian students I too knew Bankim Chatterji through  "Vande Mataram" song.

Anandamath is a historical fiction with some strong patriotic message and sentiment. The difference between the other Indian historical fiction and this one is that the protagonists are monks(sanyasi). This is the story of sanyasi revolution against British during 1700's. I should admit that I did not know anything about Sanyasi revolution before. The story starts with people struggling and dying without food due to famine (Bengal famine of 1770). In this book the author portrays the country (India) as a mother. The rich merchant Mahendra with his wife Kalyani and son decided to migrate to Calcutta for better living, but they were separated during the journey. Both of them were rescued by monks at different places. The monks took care of them.

The motherland is our only mother. Our motherland is higher than heaven. Mother India is our only mother we have no mother. We have no father, no brother, no sister, no wife, no children, no home, no….all we have is the mother.

A monk simply called Mahatma , he was the leader of rebelling sanyasis. He brings all together irrespective of their caste. Mahendra joins the ranks of Sanyasis after his oath to denounce family life. The sanyasis never told him about his wife and son.  Mahendra works diligently and support the monks in all possible manners. Meanwhile Kalyani works under another monk. The son is with sister of one of monk.

We are not afraid. A man never dies more than once in his life. And what death would it be if it occurs in the service for our Mother. Something worth dying for.”

There is another beautiful story of Jiban and Shanti. Jiban left Shanti and joined other monks to fight for freedom. Shanti knew that Jiban is alive and later joined the movement. One can definitely feel that nationalistic tone of the stories as it progress. By the time the revolt starts i.e actual battle starts you are with the monks fighting against the Captain Thomas's troops.  The climax is so dramatic, one can end up crying and angry. The main characters  Mahendra, Jiban, Bhavan ,Shanti etc have different layers of personalities.

I have never read any of Bankim Chatterji's works but I think I started with a good one. This book is definitely a must read . A historical fiction with high amount of patriotism.