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In a first, full version of ’Vande Mataram’ played at Red Fort during I-Day celebrations


Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 15, 2026: The full version of ‘Vande Mataram’ was played for the first time at the Independence Day celebrations at Delhi’s Red Fort on Saturday, marking a historic moment in the country’s official national celebrations.

The National Song was performed at the beginning of the programme, followed by the National Anthem. After the rendition of the National Song and the National Anthem, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.


Vande Mataram

The full rendition of Vande Mataram was also sung at the end of the celebration after PM Modi ended his Independence Day speech.



The development comes as India marks 150 years of the enduring legacy of ‘Vande Mataram’. The National Song also featured prominently in the celebrations, with around 2,500 National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets and ‘My Bharat’ volunteers participating in the programme.

The cadets and volunteers were seated along Gyanpath, opposite the Red Fort ramparts, and formed the words ‘Vande Mataram’ as part of the celebrations. View cutters depicting the theme ‘Viksit Bharat @2047’ were also installed at Gyanpath.

The playing of the full version of ‘Vande Mataram’ at the Red Fort comes a day after it was played before and at the conclusion of President Droupadi Murmu’s Address to the Nation on the eve of Independence Day.

This was the first time the full version of the National Song was included in the official Independence Day-eve proceedings.

Around 5,000 special guests from different walks of life attended this year’s Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort.

The invitees included International Yoga Day volunteers, women entrepreneurs under the PM Mudra Yojana, beneficiaries of various government schemes, sanitation workers, street vendors, Delhi Metro employees, Central Vista workers and youth innovators.

This year’s Independence Day celebrations also focus on the energy, aspirations and contribution of India’s youth in driving the country’s journey towards Viksit Bharat by 2047.