User:Rueben lys/Bhawani Mandir

Background

The consolidation of the British East India Company's rule in the Indian subcontinent during the 18th century brought about socio-economic changes which steadily eroded pre-colonial socio-religious institutions and structures. However, this also saw a rising political consciousness and the emergence of an "Indian" identity and fed a growing nationalist sentiment in India in the last decades of the nineteenth century. The nationalist movement became particularly strong, radical and violent in Bengal and, later, in Punjab. Notable, if smaller, movements also appeared in Maharashtra, Madras and other areas in the South. This political identity found expression in a number of literary works, most prominently in the novel Anandamath by Bengali author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Published in 1882, the novel was set in the timeline of the Sannyasi rebellion early in the history of East India Company's settlements in India, and portrayed the nation as the Mother Goddess.