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    Indian Constitution Art Work

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    Indian Constitution art work

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    451 views34 pages

    Indian Constitution Art Work

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    Shumon Sengupta

    Hands on Dad, traveler, aesthete

    T H E B LO G

    The Constitution Of India As A Work Of Art


    The original Constitution of India, adopted on 26 January 1950, was
    not a printed document. It was entirely handcrafted by the artists of
    Shantiniketan under the guidance of Acharya Nandalal Bose, with the
    calligraphy texts done by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in Delhi. This
    document is now preserved in a special helium-filled case in the
    library of the Parliament of India. In many ways, the original
    handcrafted Constitution represents one of the triumphs of
    Shantiniketan and Kala Bhavan.
    28/01/2016 8:27 AM IST | Updated 15/07/2016 8:25 AM IST

    WORLD DIGITAL LIBRARY


     The original Constitution of India, adopted on 26 January 1950, was not a printed
    document. It was entirely handcrafted by the artists of Shantiniketan under the
    guidance of Acharya Nandalal Bose, with the calligraphy texts done by Prem Behari Narain
    Raizada in Delhi. This document is now preserved in a special helium-filled case in the
    library of the Parliament of India.

     Shantiniketan and Ajanta Cave Paintings

    Shantiniketan and the Visva-Bharati University therein were conceived by Rabindranath


    Tagore as a "vishwa-vidya-tirtha-prangan" place where the best minds from all over the
    world would meet and help create a new culture that would be based on the synthesis of
    the best of the West and the East. In accordance with Tagore's vision on education,
    Shantiniketan developed into an integrated and holistic system of education in which art
    played a central role.




     Kala Bhavan, the centre for fine arts was set up under the stewardship of Acharya
    Nandalal Bose. Bose, who was a nationalist and very close to Mahatma Gandhi,
    created a home-spun curriculum of art education that incorporated Tagore's notions about
    creativity and experimentation.


     Bose identified new and indigenous sources of inspiration, and evolved a new
    aesthetic language. He added to his own creative genius the grand artistic
    traditions of ancient India (particularly the Ajanta and Bagh murals and Rajasthan and
    Mughal traditions) and that of Indian folk art. He had already imbibed influences of Sino-
    Japanese art under his teacher Abanindranath Tagore and was enriched further through
    his interactions with visiting Japanese artists at Shantiniketan.

    Earlier, in 1909-11, when Christine Herrington, a force in the English mural movement,
    visited India in order to copy the rapidly deteriorating Ajanta murals, Nandalal Bose and
    other artists from Calcutta (students of Abanindranath Tagore) had gone along to assist
    her. The impact of the Ajanta murals on Bose was staggering. Later, Bose and other
    Shantiniketan artists -- Asit Haldar and Surendranath Kar -- were sent to copy the exquisite
    but rapidly deteriorating murals of the ancient Bagh caves in present-day Madhya
    Pradesh.






     Inspired by the Ajanta and Bagh experiences, Nandalal Bose and his students later
    initiated a program in fresco and murals at Kala Bhavan. The art of modern Indian
    fresco and mural was thus born in Shantiniketan.



     Shantiniketan and the Constitution of India

    The original handcrafted Constitution of India was exquisitely designed and executed. The
    fine calligraphy in the book was done by Prem Behari Narain Raizada using a holder and
    nib (nib no. 303). He did not charge any fee for this work.

    In Shantiniketan, along with his students, Nandalal Bose completed the art work. The
    "Preamble" page was done by Beohar Rammanohar Sinha. Another Kala Bhavan artist
    associated with the artwork was Kripal Singh Shekhawat from Rajasthan, who after
    returning to his home state, subsequently went on to revive Jaipur blue pottery from near
    extinction.

    Many pages of the Constitution are embellished with highly stylised decorative borders,
    headers and backdrops. The complex patterns in the borders and in the front and back
    covers, embossed in gold on leather, are reminiscent of the Ajanta murals.





     At the beginning of each part of the Constitution, Nandalal Bose has depicted a
    phase or scene from India's national experience and history. The artwork and
    illustrations (22 in all), rendered largely in the miniature style, represent vignettes from the
    different periods of history of the Indian subcontinent, ranging from Mohenjodaro in the
    Indus Valley, the Vedic period, the Gupta and Maurya empires and the Mughal era to the
    national freedom movement. By doing so, Nandalal Bose has taken us through a veritable
    pictorial journey across 4000 years of rich history, tradition and culture of the Indian
    subcontinent.



     The Vedic period is represented by a scene of gurukula (forest hermitage school)


    and the epic period by images from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Then there
    are depictions of the lives of the Buddha and Mahavira, followed by scenes from the
    courts of Ashoka and Vikramaditya. There is a beautiful line drawing of the Nataraja from
    the Chola bronze tradition.

    Other important figures from India's history include Akbar, Shivaji, Guru Gobind Singh, Tipu
    Sultan, and Lakshmibai. The freedom movement is depicted by Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi
    march and his tour of Noakhali as the great peacemaker; Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
    makes an appearance too. Scenes of the Himalayas, the desert and the ocean are also
    included.



     The illustrations and the decorative borders are quintessential of the
    Shantiniketan/Kala Bhavan style, which in turn was greatly influenced by the cave
    paintings of Ajanta and Bagh. In many ways, the original handcrafted Constitution of India,
    as a work of exquisite aesthetic expression, represents one of the triumphs of
    Shantiniketan and Kala Bhavan.



     Source of Constitution images: World Digital Library

    You will find Shumon Sengupta's posts and albums from his travels across the continents
    at "Tales from the Trails of a World Citizen".)

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    Acharya Nandalal Bose Constitution of India Prem Behari Narain Raizada

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