15 interesting facts about the Constitution of India

The book our country runs on is the Constitution of India. Questions about it come up in school exams and competitive exams alike. But these interesting facts about the Constitution of India are worth knowing for every citizen, not just for exams — how it was made, who wrote it, where it is kept and what has changed in it so far. Here are fifteen of them in one place.

How the Constitution was made

1. 2 years, 11 months and 18 days: the Constituent Assembly took almost three years to prepare the Constitution. It met in 11 sessions, sitting for 165 days in all.
2. First meeting on 9 December 1946: the Assembly first met in the Constitution Hall in New Delhi (today's Samvidhan Sadan). Dr Sachchidananda Sinha was its temporary chairman.
3. The permanent president: on 11 December 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected the permanent president of the Constituent Assembly.
4. The Drafting Committee: a seven-member Drafting Committee was set up on 29 August 1947, chaired by Dr B. R. Ambedkar. That is why he is called the "chief architect of the Constitution".
5. Two dates: the Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950. The 26th of January was chosen because "Purna Swaraj Day" had been observed on that date in 1930.

Written by hand, decorated by artists

1. Handwritten, not printed: the original English copy was written by hand, in flowing italic script, by the calligrapher Prem Behari Narain Raizada. The Hindi copy was written by Vasant Krishan Vaidya.
2. An illustrated copy: artists from Shantiniketan led by Nandalal Bose decorated the pages of each part with scenes from Indian history and culture. The Preamble page was decorated by Beohar Rammanohar Sinha.
3. 284 signatures: on 24 January 1950, 284 members of the Constituent Assembly signed the original copies.
4. Cases filled with helium: the original Hindi and English copies are kept in the Library of Parliament in special cases filled with helium gas, so that the paper does not decay.

Did you know? Since 2015, "Constitution Day" (Samvidhan Divas) has been observed every year on 26 November — the day the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution.

Size and structure

1. The longest written constitution in the world: no other sovereign country has a written constitution this long. When it came into force it had 395 articles, 22 parts and 8 schedules.
2. Its size today: after the amendments it now has 12 schedules, and the number of articles has grown from 395 to about 470 (counting articles inserted in between, such as Article 21A).
3. "India, that is Bharat": Article 1 says that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States" — so both names of the country are written into the Constitution.

Good ideas borrowed from other countries

The makers of the Constitution studied many constitutions of the world and adopted their best features to suit India's needs:

Changes to the Constitution

1. The 42nd Amendment (1976): it is also called the "mini-constitution". It added the words "socialist", "secular" and "integrity" to the Preamble and created a new part on fundamental duties.
2. 106 amendments: by 2023 the Constitution had been amended 106 times. The 106th Amendment provided for reserving one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies for women.
3. 11 fundamental duties: ten duties were added in 1976; in 2002 the 86th Amendment added the eleventh — giving children aged 6 to 14 the opportunity of education.

To understand how powers are divided between the Union and the states, read Federalism in India: why "quasi-federal" is the right word. More articles on the subject are in the polity section.

Test yourself: Class 8 GK quiz: the Constitution of India.