The Constituent Assembly, which had a galaxy of prominent leaders and other personalities proficient in various walks of life, began its historic task of framing free India's Constitution on 9 December 1946. Besides framing the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly was also required to choose the National Flag and the National Emblem. When the Assembly failed to find any suitable symbols from the Brahmanic culture, the founding fathers turned to Buddhism, and were not disappointed. Since the Buddhist heritage represented the glorious past of India, they readily adopted the Buddhist symbols as National Symbols. These are: the Lion Capital of the Asokan Pillar at Sarnath as the National