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However, it was always the responsibility of the Hindu majority to accommodate the demands of the Muslim minority while expecting nothing in return.

With its lyrics manipulated, Muslims would have had no problems extending their support to Gandhi and joining him in his prayer meetings that were aimed at reconciling differences between the two communities and forging communal harmony. Besides, it was also the opening track on the Afrobeat band’s album Osibisa – Unleashed – Live in 1982. The bhajan was composed into a tune by renowned musicologist Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, thereby making it ripe for mass consumption and in the process further popularising it.Įven Bollywood played its part in contemporising the adulterated version of the religious hymn, with Hindi films like Lage Raho Munnabhai and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai featuring the Gandhian edition of the devotional song. This bastardised version of the religious hymn instantly became popular, partly because it was promoted by Gandhi himself and also because of its overtly secular connotation. Another myth that became popular with the growing popularity of the hymn was that it is a patriotic song aimed to project a secular composite image of the Indian society however, original composition as it was sometimes referred to as Ram Dhun, could be best described as an ode glorifying and praising Lord Ram. The lyrics were taken from Shri Nama Ramayanan, an old religious text penned by Sri Lakshmanacharya, and modified by Gandhi. However, contrary to the popular imagination, Gandhi was not the creator of the hymn. It was during this movement that Gandhi popularised the use of “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram” as the marchers sang to keep their spirits up.

The bhajan was first used by Gandhi during his 241 miles march to Dandi during the Dandi March in 1930 to oppose a new law that the British enacted to restrict Indians from producing or selling salt. One of the hymns that became a common feature in Gandhi’s prayer meetings was “ Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram”. Gandhi tampered with the lyrics of a Hindu religious bhajan to appease Muslims During these meetings, Gandhi encouraged community singing of popular bhajans and religious hymns and discussed at length their lyrics and content.

Among other things, he experimented with the organisation of daily prayer meetings aimed at achieving reconciliation between different communities, most notably Hindus and Muslims. He later returned to India and joined the country’s independence struggle against the oppressive British rule.

Born into a Gujarati Hindu Modh Bania family in the coastal town of Porbandar, Gandhi completed his education from England and from there went to South Africa to practice law. 2 October 2021 marks the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, also known in India as the ‘Father of the Nation.