Prints and symbols played a vital role in evoking the feeling of nationalism, unity and sense of collective belonging. Symbols in figures or images helped people to identify the nation. Keeping the same in mind, the image of Bharat Mata was created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Afterwards Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. He made it an ascetic figure calm, composed, divine and spiritual. The image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms, as it circulated in popular prints. Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one's nationalism.