The Constitution of India — The World's Longest Constitution Nobody Typed

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India — Constitution Profile

📅 Active SinceJanuary 26, 1950 (Republic Day)
🏛️ GovernmentSovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic
🌍 CapitalNew Delhi
📄 Total Articles470 Articles in 25 Parts
✏️ Total Amendments106 Amendments

The Longest Constitution Ever Written — And Nobody Typed a Single Word of It

Most people know India as the world's largest democracy.

What most people do not know is that India also holds a record no other nation on earth can claim.

India has the longest written constitution of any sovereign nation in the world.

At over 146,000 words — spanning 470 articles, 25 parts, and 12 schedules — the Constitution of India is longer than most novels. The United States Constitution, by comparison, contains just 4,543 words.

India's constitution is 32 times longer.

But here is the part that will genuinely stop you — not a single word of the original Constitution was typed or printed.

The Man Who Wrote 146,000 Words by Hand

When India's Constituent Assembly completed the final draft of the Constitution in 1949, they faced an unusual decision. How should this historic document be produced?

They chose not to use a printing press. They chose not to use a typewriter.

They chose a calligrapher.

His name was Prem Behari Narain Raizada. He was given the extraordinary task of handwriting the entire Constitution — every single word — in both English and Hindi, in his own calligraphy.

He worked without payment. His only condition was that his name and his grandfather's name would appear on every page of the document.

The result was a handwritten masterpiece — 146,000 words of careful, precise calligraphy — that took months to complete.

The original copies are now stored in nitrogen-filled cases in the Parliament Library in New Delhi, preserved for eternity.

The Artist Who Painted the Constitution

The handwriting was remarkable. But what happened next was extraordinary.

The Constituent Assembly commissioned the artists of Shantiniketan — the legendary institution founded by Rabindranath Tagore — to illustrate the Constitution.

Under the guidance of master artist Nandalal Bose, a team of artists created 22 illustrations — one at the beginning of each part of the Constitution — depicting scenes from India's long and rich history.

From the seal of Mohenjo-daro to scenes of the Indian independence movement, every section of the Constitution opens with a work of art.

The Indian Constitution is the only constitution in the world that is also a work of art.

The Man Who Wanted to Burn It

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is known as the Father of the Indian Constitution. He spent nearly three years studying the constitutions of over 60 countries before drafting India's foundational document.

He was brilliant, tireless, and utterly committed to the project.

But in his final speech to the Constituent Assembly in 1949, he said something that shocked the room.

"If the Constitution is misused, I will be the first to burn it."

The man who built the Constitution threatened to destroy it — because he understood that a document is only as good as the people who uphold it.

Born into a Dalit family and fluent in nine languages, Ambedkar had spent his life fighting caste discrimination. He had studied at Columbia University and the London School of Economics. And he poured everything he had learned — and everything he had suffered — into a document designed to guarantee equality for every Indian citizen.

The Constitution That Borrowed From Everyone

India's constitution writers did something remarkable when drafting their document. Instead of starting from scratch, they studied the best constitutional systems in the world and borrowed the best ideas from each.

The result is a constitution that carries the fingerprints of nations across five continents.

Fundamental Rights came from the United States. The parliamentary system came from the United Kingdom. Directive Principles of State Policy came from Ireland. The federal structure came from Canada and Australia. The emphasis on peace came from Japan. Liberty, equality, and fraternity came from France.

India's constitution is, in many ways, the world's constitution — a document that synthesized the greatest democratic ideas of the modern age into a single governing framework.

The Most Amended Constitution on Earth

The United States Constitution has been amended 27 times in over 235 years.

India's Constitution has been amended 106 times in just 75 years.

Despite requiring a supermajority to pass any amendment, the Indian Constitution is the most frequently amended national governing document in the world.

This is not a sign of weakness. It reflects a constitution so detailed and specific that many issues requiring simple legislation in other countries require a formal amendment in India.

The Constitution is not just a framework. It is a living, constantly evolving document.

The 15 Women Nobody Remembers

When the Constituent Assembly met to draft the Constitution, India had just emerged from colonial rule. Women's rights across the world were still deeply restricted.

But 15 women sat in that assembly and helped shape the document that would govern over a billion people.

Among them was Sarojini Naidu — poet, freedom fighter, and the first woman to serve as President of the Indian National Congress. There was Hansa Mehta, who pushed hard to ensure that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights used the phrase "all human beings" instead of "all men."

Their names are rarely mentioned in the history books. But their voices are in every article of the Constitution.

Constitution at a Glance

DetailInformation
AdoptedNovember 26, 1949
Came into EffectJanuary 26, 1950
Total Words146,000+
Total Articles470
Total Parts25
Total Schedules12
Total Amendments106
Time to Draft2 years, 11 months, 18 days
Number of Signatories284
Chief ArchitectDr. B.R. Ambedkar
Original Copies StoredNitrogen-filled cases, Parliament Library, New Delhi
Longest ConstitutionYes — World's longest for a sovereign nation

📥 Download the Full Constitution of India

Read and download the complete, official text of the Constitution of India directly from the Government of India:

👉 Download Constitution of India — Full Text

The world's longest constitution — handwritten by one man, illustrated by master artists, and built from the best ideas of nations across five continents. Which fact surprised you the most? Tell us in the comments below.

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