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Patna,(BiharTimes): On the pattern of Rashtra Gaan (national anthem) Bihar will now have its own Bihar Gaan (Bihar anthem). Not only that it will have a Bihar Prayer too.
The state government claims that it is taking this step with a view to strengthening unity among Biharis across the world. However, there is no dearth of people who questions the very idea of state anthem within a country.
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A survey conducted sometimes back in many parts of the country revealed that several ministers, MPs and MLAs were unable to recite the national anthem. Now their counterparts in Bihar––and other people too––are suppose to learn by rote the Bihar Gaan as well as Bihar Prayer.
Reports said that the state government had several months back invited entries for the purpose. In all 96 of them were shortlisted from a list of about 1500. None else but the chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday evening selected two of them. While one is Bihar Gaan, the other is Bihar Prayer.
According to state HRD principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, the two songs explore Bihar's glorious past and its shining future. The state government is talking with music composers of Bollywood Shivkumar Sharma and Hari Prasad Chaurasia, famous as Shiv-Hari, to get the songs composed and recorded by the end of February next. The Bihar Diwas celebrations is scheduled on March 22 and Anjani is its nodal officer.
Over 1,500 entries were made till February 4, 2011, the last day for submission. Some of the entries were even made from Jharkhand. Some bureaucrats and politicians had also sent in their lyrics. A committee of experts, such as Surendra Snigdh, Arun Kamal and Ravindra Rajhansh, shortlisted 46 poems for Bihar Gaan and 50-odd for the Bihar Prayer.
The songs are in Hindi. Bihar Gaan has been written by Patna-based poet Satya Narayan, a former History teacher who was awarded Gopal Singh Nepali Puraskar in 1991 and Dr Shambhu Nath Singh Navgeet Puraskar in 2009.
Bihar Prayer has been composed by M R Chisti, who teaches at Urdu Middle School in Marwan block of Muzaffarpur district.
While Jana Gana Mana, composed by Rabindranath Tagore, was sung exactly a century back, Nitish is likely to dedicate the Bihar Gaan and Bihar Prayer on March 22, 2012 on the occasion of state’s centenary year celebrations. He will also give a cheque of Rs one lakh each to the composers on the same day.
Like Jana Gana Mana, Bihar Gaan is expected to be played or sung at state functions and in government schools. However, it could not be known immediately if the government would issue an official order for the same.
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