How was the original Constitution produced?

On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India. It came into force two months later, on 26 January 1950. Today 26 November is celebrated every year as Constitution Day, or Samvidhan Divas.

When it came into force, it was the longest written constitution in the world, with 395 Articles, 22 Parts and 8 Schedules. Remarkably, it was not printed. The original was written out by hand, in beautiful calligraphy, in both English and Hindi, and it ran to about 90,000 words. The calligraphy was done by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in Delhi, and artists from Santiniketan, guided by Nandalal Bose, decorated it. Each Part begins with a picture of a scene from India's history, from Mohenjo-daro and the Vedic age to the freedom movement. The original copies are kept in special cases filled with nitrogen in the Library of Parliament.

The making of the Constitution was watched by the people. Over nearly three years, more than 53,000 citizens sat in the visitors' gallery of the Constituent Assembly to follow its debates. Fifteen of the Assembly's members were women, among them Sarojini Naidu, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Hansa Mehta, Sucheta Kripalani and G. Durgabai. On 24 January 1950 the Assembly met for the last time, and 284 members signed the Constitution.