Anandamath is an extraordinary political novel. The plot with its epic dimensions is based on the Sanyasi Rebellion in the late eighteenth century. Against all odds the Sanyasis fought the British whom they regarded as an arch enemy of the country and responsible for the terrible famine of 1772.In this novel Bankim also wrote — Bande Mataram — Hail Motherland — and gave India its first national song which later became a rallying call of the national freedom movement."It is legend in the tradition of the Mahabharata." - Mulk Raj Anand"One of India's 60 best books ever." - Hindustan Times, 15 August 2007"Of all his (Bankim's) works, by far the most important for its astonishing political consequences was Anandamath." - R C Dutt, Encyclopaedia Britannica"This novel is a legend of the struggle for freedom, and the passion behind it seems to reflect Bankim's vision of free India." - Rabindranath TagoreBankim Chandra Chatterji (1838-94) is widely acknowledged as perhaps the most creative genius of Bengali literature. Beginning his literary career as a writer of verse, he soon realised that poetry was not his metier and turned to fiction. Bengali fiction owes much of its present form to the trend that Bankim Chandra set with Durgesh Nandini (1865), Kapal Kundala (1866), Krishnakanta’s Will (1878), Rajani and other books.Anandmath (1882) established Bankim Chandra’s skill as a novelist and was a piece of historical fiction imbued with the spirit of nationalism and selfless patriotism. It gave tremendous impetus to the various religious, patriotic and national activities beginning with Hindu missionary activity and culminating in the militant movement in Bengal in the first decade of the twentieth century.
