A team of 15 calligraphers from across the country under the guidance of Achyut Palav, a well-known calligrapher paid a calligraphic tribute to India by writing each line of “Jana Gana Mana”, the National Anthem in 15 different Indian scripts. Not only this, 15 vocalists also lent their voices to the national anthem. The video of the national anthem will be released on August 14 evening.
At a time when there is a pandemic gloom, Palav tried to bring the whole country together through his calligraphy. “I brought 15 calligraphers from across the country and assigned them to write one line of the National Anthem in his language. For example, a calligrapher from Kerala writes in Malayalam and a West Bengal calligrapher pens in Bengali,” said Palav. He added that the video of the writing works was shot on a cellphone and later clubbed together to make the song complete. The concept has been christened as “Akshar Bharat, A Calligraphic Tribute to India”.
The calligraphers have embellished the National Anthem in Devnagri, Odia, Telgu, Kannada, Malyalam, Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil, Gurumukhi, Modi, Kashmiri, Bengali, Assamese, Maithili and Siddham scripts.
The music composition for the calligraphic National Anthem was done by Adinath Mangeshkar, who is also secretary general of MIT VIshwashanti Sangit Kala Academy (VSKA). Students of VSKA and other members of the college lend their voices.
Palav said, “We all perceive our country differently. However, as a calligrapher, I see scripts and sounds all around me.” Despite the ongoing lockdown, calligraphers from across the country participated enthusiastically.
