how did the nation become reality in the minds of the people
Answers
1) Nationalism spreads when people begin to believe that they are all part of the same nation, when they discover some unity that binds them together. 2) Nation became a reality in the minds of Indian people through history and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism 3) 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. 4) With the growth of nationalism, identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata. It was created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. 5) In 1870s, he wrote ‘ Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to motherland. Later, it was included in his novel, Anandmath, and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 6) Inspired by this movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting, Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure and she is calm, composed, divine, and spiritual. 7) Nationalism developed also through movement to revive Indian folklore. Nationalists began to record folk tales, which they believed gave the true picture of traditional culture of India which have been damaged by foreign forces 8) Thus through our glorious developments in art, architecture, science, mathematics, religion, culture, law and philosophy Indians began to feel the pride of our nation’s past and nationalism spread to free