How did people belonging to different communities, regions or language groups develop a sense of-collective belonging?

*Introduction:-
–The sense of collective identity came through the experience of united struggles and there were many cultural processes through which nationalism captured people’s imagination.
*Allegory of India(Bharat Mata) :-
–The identity of the nation is often symbolized through a figure or image. This helps to create an image with which people can identify the nation.
–The identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata which was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata.In his painting, Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure. She is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.

*National Song – Vande Matram:-
–Bankim Chandra wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland.
–Later it was included in his novel Anandmath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal.
*Indian folklore:-
–It was essential to preserve the folk tradition in order to discover one’s national identity and restore a sense of pride in one’s past.That is why nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends.
–In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths and led the movement for folk revival.
–In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four- volume collection of Tamil folk tales, ‘The Folklore of Southern India’. He believed that folklore was national literature.
*Icons and Symbols :-
–As nationalist movement developed, nationalist leaders became aware of icons and symbols that unified people and instilled a feeling of nationalism in them.
–During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolor flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.
–Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was a tricolor (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self – help.
*Reinterpretation of history :-
–The Britishers saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements.
–They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when architecture, science, mathematics, philosophy and trade flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
–These nationalist histories urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.
Conclusion:-
Therefore, collective belonging grew through shared struggles, cultural symbols, and pride in India’s glorious past.