K.M. Munshi: Constitution-Maker and Somnath’s Rebuilder

In 1940, K.M. Munshi wrote a novel about Somnath Temple‘s history. Eleven years later, he helped rebuild the temple itself, against a sitting Prime Minister’s own reservations. In between, he helped draft India’s Constitution.

K.M. Munshi at Somnath, July 1950, during the temple’s post-Independence reconstruction. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

📑 Contents

1Timeline
2A Drafter and a Temple-Builder
3Beyond the Constitution
4Test Yourself
5One Life, Many Roles

Timeline

30 December 1887: K.M. Munshi is born in Bharuch, Gujarat.
1930-1932: He is jailed twice during the Civil Disobedience Movement.
1938: He founds Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, in Bombay.
1947-1948: He is elected to the Constituent Assembly, and serves on its Drafting Committee.
11 May 1951: Somnath Temple’s post-Independence reconstruction, which he drove as Trust chairman, is consecrated.
1952-1957: He serves as Governor of Uttar Pradesh.
1959: He co-founds the Swatantra Party, with C. Rajagopalachari.
8 February 1971: He dies in Bombay, aged 83.

A Drafter and a Temple-BuilderNeed to Know

K.M. Munshi (1887-1971) was a lawyer, writer, and statesman. He served on the Constituent Assembly’s Drafting Committee, and founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
He was jailed twice during the Civil Disobedience Movement, in 1930 and 1932.
He founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in 1938, an institution for education and cultural preservation that is still active today.
As Union Minister of Food and Agriculture, he also chaired the Somnath Temple Trust. He drove the temple’s post-Independence reconstruction, consecrated on 11 May 1951.
He served as Governor of Uttar Pradesh, from 1952 to 1957.
In 1959, he co-founded the Swatantra Party, with C. Rajagopalachari.

Beyond the ConstitutionGood to Know

He also served on the Constituent Assembly’s ad hoc Flag Committee, which selected independent India’s national flag, in August 1947.
He was a prolific Gujarati writer, under the pen name “Ghanshyam Vyas.” His Patan trilogy and the novel “Jay Somnath” (1940) are among his best-known works.
Prime Minister Nehru had reservations about state involvement in the Somnath reconstruction, questioning its timing given India’s post-Partition economic hardships. President Rajendra Prasad still presided over the 1951 consecration himself, reportedly saying he would do the same for a mosque or a church if invited.
He served as India’s Agent-General to Hyderabad State in 1948, in the lead-up to its accession.
He is widely credited with launching Van Mahotsav in 1950, an annual tree-planting festival still observed across India every July. It grew out of an earlier “Grow More Trees” campaign, which he moved to the first week of July and renamed.
He was among the founding delegation of the Vishva Hindu Parishad in August 1964, alongside figures from several faiths. RSS chief M.S. Golwalkar presided over the founding meeting itself.

Test Yourself

One Life, Many RolesGreat to Know

See Polity0064 — The Constituent Assembly’s Drafting Committee, which lists Munshi among its seven original members.
See ArtnCulture0124 — Somnath Temple, whose modern reconstruction Munshi carried forward after Sardar Patel’s death in December 1950.
He had written a novel about Somnath’s history in 1940, more than a decade before he helped rebuild the temple itself.
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, which he founded in 1938, still runs colleges and cultural institutes across India today.
Actor K.K. Raina portrayed him in Shyam Benegal’s television series “Samvidhaan,” on the making of the Constitution.

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