The Man who literally wrote India’s Constitution
Prem Behari Narain Raizada (1901-1966) was an Indian calligrapher. He is notable for being the calligrapher who hand-wrote the Constitution of India. When the draft of the Constitution of India was ready to be printed, the GOI approached the renowned calligrapher Prem Behari Raizada with the proposal of hand-writing the Constitution.
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He refused any payment for his hard and patient work. But he had one important request. He wanted to write his name on every page of the Constitution and on the last page write his name along with his grandfather’s name. Granting his request, the GOI entrusted with Prem Behari the prestigious job of writing the Constitution in beautiful calligraphy. He was allotted a room in the Constitution Hall.
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The original manuscript of the Constitution was written on parchment sheets measuring 16X22 inches and these have a lifespan of a thousand years.
The finished manuscript consisted of 251 pages and weighed 3.75 kg. In all, 432 pen holder nibs were used by Prem Behari for this calligraphy-writing of the Indian Constitution.
The hand-written Constitution is also a work of art. The famous painter Nandalal Bose & his students designed the borders of every page and adorned them with beautiful art pieces, in the miniature style. The “Preamble” page was done by Beohar Rammanohar Sinha. They depicted some scenes from our national history.
The longest written constitution for any sovereign state in the world!
The Constitution had a total of
395 articles, 8 schedules, and a preamble. It took Prem Bihari 6
months to complete this work.
432 pen-holder nibs used in this entire process. He used the
nib of number 303 for calligraphy. The nib was used to write by
placing it in a wooden holder and then dipping it in ink.
The finished manuscript consisted of 251 pages and weighed 3.75 kg. In all, Prem Behari used 432 pen holder nibs were for this calligraphy-writing of the Indian Constitution.
