In March 2016, a message claiming that UNESCO had named India’s “Jana Gana Mana” as the best anthem in the world began circulating on Facebook. This rumor was a reiteration of one that originated in 2008, when it was widely shared via e-mail:

According to India Today, the original e-mailed version was linked to a Yahoo Groups site called ‘MumbaiHangOut’ and may have been a ploy to increase membership in that group:

When India Today wrote to the UNESCO asking for details and clarifications regarding this ‘announcement’, Sue Williams (Chief, Editorial, Press Relations and Unesco Courier, Bureau of Public Information, Unesco) wrote back that no such award has been announced.

She wrote that the UNESCO was aware of this mail, but it was not true.

“We are aware of several blogs in India reporting this story, but can assure you that Unesco has made no such announcement concerning the anthem of India or any country,” she wrote.

AR Rahman sing National Anthem for India Jan Gana Man mp3 Quality: Good Download. SAMPOORNA JANA GANA MANA WITH LYRICS mp3 Quality: Good Download. 'Jana Gana Mana' (Hindi: [ɟənə gəɳə mənə]) is the national anthem of India. It was originally composed as Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata in Bengali by poet Rabindranath Tagore. [1] [2] The first stanza of the song Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India as the National Anthem on 24 January 1950.

Regardless of the original intent behind the spreading of this rumor, there is no truth to it. UNESCO has not named India’s national anthem, or any other national anthem, to be the world’s best: