Interesting Facts About The Indian Constitution You Should Know

26th January 1950, the day a new democracy was born, the day India saw its constitution come to being, the day every Indian feels proud about, the day India became a republican nation. India is the largest democracy in the world and on the 26th of January 2016 the constitution of India, which has seen various amendments and changes been done over the years, will complete 66 years of democracy and sovereignty.

It may not be, in general, of interest for a traveler geek to know and understand about the constitutional nuances of India, but there are certain interesting facts about the constitution of India which are downright amazing, and a must know. On the eve of the 66th Republic Day of India, let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts attached to the formation of the constitution of India:

Facts You Have To Know About The Indian Constitution

1. The constitution was a hand written document, and not typed and printed, with as much as 48 articles, 12 schedules and 94 amendments. Now, that’s a lot of writing! 

2. A total of 283 members of the constituent assembly signed the constitution, which came into being on 26th January, 1950.

3. The Indian constitution is the longest in the world. Remember? Lot of writing!

4. It took around 2 years, 11 months and 17 days for the assembly to finish writing the entire constitution. And there you go again; writing to its length Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

6. It was a raining cats and dogs outside the parliament, the day constitution was signed, and this was considered to be a good omen by the assembly members.

7. The date 26th January was especially selected since it was the anniversary of “Purna Swaraj Day” (26th January 1930); the day Indian congress seeded the fight for complete Independence and hoisted the Indian national flag for the first time.

8. The original hand-written copies of the Constitution are kept in helium-filled cases in the Library of Parliament House. Something to check out on you volunteering trip to India this time.

9. The national anthem of India, written by Rabindranath Tagore, was scribed in Bengali first and later translated to Hindi by Abid  Ali in 1911.

10. The Indian national flag, with tri-color and the chakra in the middle, was conceptualized by Pingali Venkayya, a farmer from Machilipatnam (a city in southern state of Andhra Pradesh).

Jai Hind!

The Constitution draws inspiration and features from Constitutions of other countries as below:

• France: The Preamble of the Constitution of India includes the ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The inspiration came from the French Revolution when these were first formed.
• Great Britain: The Indian Parliamentary System is largely influenced by the structure and functioning of the British Parliamentary system. Inspiration on law-making procedures, rule of law and the principles of single citizenship came from the British Constitution.
• Canada: Concept of strong central authority in a federal structure.
• USA: The Indian Preamble begins with “We the people” and its inspiration came from the Preamble of the American Constitution. Features of Fundamental Rights, Independence of the Judiciary, the Judicial Review system, removal of Judges of Supreme Court and High Court also came from the US constitution.
• Republic of Ireland: Directive Principles of State Policy.
• Australia: Concurrent List.
• Germany (Weimer Constitution): The concept of Emergency.
• USSR: The concept of Five Year Plans.