The Constitution of India which is the longest written constitution in the world, was handwritten in English in beautiful calligraphy by Shri. Prem Bihari Narain Raizada. He took six months to write the nearly 145,000 words in a flowing italic style.
Shri Raizada did most of the writing on parchment paper measuring 16×22 inches with a lifespan of thousands of years in the Constitution Hall which is now known as the Constitution Club. The finished manuscript has 252 pages and weighs 3.25 kgs.
Raizada was asked by Jawaharlal Nehru to write out the first copy of the document. Asked what he would charge for hand-writing the constitution, Raizada replied, “Not a single penny. By the grace of God, I have all the things and am quite happy with my life. But I have one reservation—that on every page of Constitution I will write my name and on the last page I will write my name along with my grandfather’s name.”
Raizada was born in December 1901 to a Kayastha Saxena family of calligraphers. He lost his parents at a young age, so Raizada was raised by his grandfather – himself a scholar of English and Persian – who taught Raizada the art of Indian calligraphy. He was a graduate from Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, where he refined his calligraphic skills.
The illustrations on the Constitution were done by the legendary artist Shri. Nandlal Bose, principal of Kala Bhavan and Shri. Beohar Rambahadur Sinha and his team from Santiniketan. The artwork covers 5,000 years of Indian history belonging to different periods up till Independence. The Calligraphy of the Hindi version of the Original Constitution was done by Vasant Krishan Vaidya.
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional. What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
