What is the significance of the India Gate at New Delhi?

Submitted by aurora on

http://www.terragalleria.com/images/india/indi38523.jpeg The India Gate is a war memorial in New Delhi commemorating the dead of the First World War.

The India Gate today also houses the Indian Army Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Amar Jawan Jyoti. Situated on the Rajpath New Delhi,the India Gate was originally called the All India War Memorial is a monument built by Edwin Lutyens to commemorate the Indian soldiers who died in World War I and the Afghan Wars. The foundation stone was laid on 10 February 1921by the Duke of Connaught.The names of the soldiers who died in these wars are inscribed on the walls. It was completed in 1931. Another additional 13,516 names engraved on the arch and foundations form a separate memorial to the British and Indian soldiers killed on the North-West Frontier in the Afghan War of 1919.

 

Images of India Gate at Day and Night

The 42 metre tall India Gate is situated such that many important roads spread out from it. Traffic passing around India Gate used to be continuous till the roads were closed to the public due to terrorist threats.

Rajpath: New Delhi

The lawns around Rajpath are thronged by people during the night, when the India Gate is lit up. The entire arch stands on a low base of red Bharatpur stone and rises in stages to a huge cornice, beneath which are inscribed Imperial suns. Above on both sides is inscribed INDIA, flanked by MCM and to the right, XIX. The shallow domed bowl at the top was intended to be filled with burning oil on anniversariesThe India Gate also has some resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe of Paris. Inscribed on top of India Gate in capital letters is the line:

To the dead of the Indian armies who fell honoured in France and Flanders Mesopotamia and Persia East Africa Gallipoli and elsewhere in the near and the far-east and in sacred memory also of those whose names are recorded and who fell in India or the north-west frontier and during the Third Afgan War

Amar jawan Jyoti:

Burning in a shrine under the arch of India Gate since 1971 is the Amar Jawan Jyoti (the flame of the immortal warrior), which marks the Unknown Soldier's Tomb. The shrine itself is a black marble cenotaph with a rifle placed on its barrel, crested by a soldier's helmet. Each face of the cenotaph has inscribed in gold the words "Amar Jawan" (Immortal Warrior). This cenotaph is itself placed on an edifice which has on its four corners four torches that are perpetually kept alive. It was unveiled on January 26, 1972, in the wake of the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Today, it is customary for the President and the Prime Minister, as well as visiting Guests of State to pay homage at the site on occasions of State ceremonies.

The Amar Jwan Jyoti

India Gate Video

Annual Events At India Gate:

Republic Day Parade

Every year on 26th January, the day celebrated as the Republic Day of India, the Indian President places a wreath at the eternal flame Amar Jawan Jyoti under the arch of India Gate to pay his respects to the Indian armed forces who laid down their lives for the sake of the country. It is followed by a grand parade that moves along Rajpath, which comprise of marching contingents, tanks and weaponry, vibrant floats, folk dances and school children from differnet parts of India who participate in the ceremony.

Swar Utsav

This three-day musical extravaganza is organized by the Delhi Tourism every October on the luxuriant lawns of the India Gate. The music lovers are kept enthralled by the performance of the best Indian classical musicians during this event.