STORY OF THE ARTWORK

Artist Nandalal Bose, a proponent of the Bengal School, and his team of students from Kala Bhavan worked on the art that helms each of the 22 parts of the Constitution. The subject matters range across historical time periods and personages: a seal from Mohenjo Daro, scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Buddha and his disciples, sculptures from the South, Akbar’s court, Tipu Sultan and Laxmibai, Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose. The work of Nandalal Bose and students was influenced by ancient murals, medieval sculptures and Far Eastern styles. The result was the first foray of Indian modernist art, which favoured an idiom centred on Indian ethos and eschewed the overarching Western academic approach prevalent at the time. Calligrapher Prem Behari Narain Raizada (Saxena) wrote the text in Hindi and English reportedly, over six months. The borders are in the Hashia style, used in the time of Mughal emperor Jehangir — highly ornate borders that often eclipsed the subject itself. All pages have a simple, gold speckled border, but some pages, such as the opening page of a

Schedule, and where it ends, have a second inner border of gold ornament. Curator Naman Ahuja says the pages with illustrations were first painted and then sent to the calligrapher. The calligrapher then sent the pages to the framers. On some, the signatures of some members of the Constituent Assembly run out of the column space, and the borders have been cut to accommodate their signatures. This division of work and its sequencing — from calligrapher to framer — allowed ateliers to work independently.

– Dhamini Ratnam

HT FILE PHOTO At the final session of the Constituent Assembly, members signed copiesof the Constitution. In this picture (right to left): Jairamdas Daulatram, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Dr John Matthai, Sardar Patel and Jagjivan Ram sign the document.