The song was originally written by Gupta in March 1924 as a patriotic poem and was released by Khanna Press in Kanpur , selling over 5000 copies . The Indian National Congress adopted the song as the official flag song in 1924 and it was first sung at the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs ' Day on 13 April 1924 at Phool Bagh in Kanpur , a function attended by Jawaharlal Nehru . In 1938 , Sarojini Naidu presented the song at the Haripura Session of the Indian National Congress in the presence of freedom leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi , Motilal Nehru , Jawaharlal Nehru , Dr Rajendra Prasad , Govind Vallabh Pant , Jamnalal Bajaj , Mahadev Desai and Purushottam Das Tandon . A decade later , the song was featured in the film , '' Azadi ki Raah Par '' , released in 1948 . The film was directed by Lalit Chandra Mehta and had Prithviraj Kapoor and Vanamala Pawar in the lead roles . The song , composed by Shekhar Kalyan and sung by Sarojini Naidu , is reported to have instilled a sense of patriotism among Indians during the pre-independence period . It is sung every year during the flag hoisting ceremony at the Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations
Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs ' Day
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
Shyamlal Gupta