As India marked its 70th Republic Day today, search engine Google joined in the celebrations with a colourful doodle, featuring Rashtrapati Bhavan in the background along with a display of the country's iconic monuments and heritage.
Every letter of the doodle created by guest artist Reshidev R K represents a facet of India. It features rivers, marching contingents, a representative image of the Qutub Minar, rivers and water bodies, designs from parts of the country as well as an elephant and the national bird peacock.
On this day in 1950, India solidified its sovereignty by putting into effect the Constitution of India, a governing document that took nearly three years of careful deliberation to finalise, and whose eventual enactment was joyfully celebrated across the country.
While India's constitution was adopted in November 1949, it was on January 26, 1950, that the document came into force.
"The date January 26 was chosen for the document to take effect, because it commemorates Pūrna Swarāj Day, which took place exactly 20 years earlier," Google said in its blog.
On January 26, 1930, the Indian National Congress had issued a resolution declaring complete freedom (Purna Swaraj) from the British colonial rule.
Every year the Republic Day is commemorated with a grand parade at Rajpath, with colourful parade floats that celebrated the diversity and essence of Indian culture, each float representing a different component of the country's history.