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India Gate

Coordinates:28°36′46.31″N77°13′45.5″E/ 28.6128639°N 77.229306°E/28.6128639; 77.229306
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Not to be confused withGateway of India.

India Gate
India
For the dead of the Indian Armies who fell during World War I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War
Established10 February 1921
Unveiled12 February 1931
Location28°36′46.31″N77°13′45.5″E/ 28.6128639°N 77.229306°E/28.6128639; 77.229306
India Gate is located in Delhi
India Gate
India Gate (Delhi)
Designed bySir Edwin Lutyens
13,313 engraved names, 12,357 Indian[1]and honours 70,000 fallen soldiers of undivided India[2]

TheIndia Gate(formerly known asAll India War Memorial) is awar memoriallocated near theKartavya pathon the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" ofNew Delhi,formerly called Rajpath in New Delhi. It stands as a memorial to 74,187 soldiers of theIndian Armywho died between 1914 and 1921 in theFirst World War,inFrance,Flanders,Mesopotamia,Persia,East Africa,Gallipoliand elsewhere in the Near and the Far East, and theThird Anglo-Afghan War.13,300 servicemen's names, including some soldiers and officers from the United Kingdom, are inscribed on the gate.[2]Designed by SirEdwin Lutyens,the gate evokes the architectural style of the ancient Romantriumphal archessuch as theArch of Constantinein Rome, and latermemorial arches;it is often compared to theArc de Triomphein Paris, and theGateway of Indiain Mumbai.

Following theBangladesh Liberation warin 1972, a structure consisting of a black marble plinth with a reversed rifle, capped by a war helmet and bounded by four eternal flames, was built beneath the archway. This structure, calledAmar Jawan Jyoti(Flame of the Immortal Soldier), has since 1971 served as India'stomb of the unknown soldier.India Gate is counted amongst the largest war memorials in India and everyRepublic Day,thePrime Ministervisits the Gate to pay their tributes to theAmar Jawan Jyoti,following which the Republic Day parade starts. India Gate is often a location forcivil societyprotests, and is popular with tourists.

History[edit]

Armoured cars passing through the gate, in the 1930s

The India Gate was part of the work of theImperial War Graves Commission(IWGC), which came into existence in December 1917 under the British rule for building war graves and memorials to soldiers who were killed in the First World War.[3]The foundation stone of the Gate, then called the All India War Memorial, was laid on 10 February 1921, at 16:30 hrs, by the visitingDuke of Connaughtin a ceremony attended by officers and men of the Imperial Indian Army,Imperial Service Troops,the Commander-in-Chief, andLord Chelmsford,the Viceroy.[4]On the occasion, the Viceroy is reported to have said, "The stirring tales of individual heroism, will live forever in the annals of this country", and that the memorial which was a tribute to the memory of heroes, "known and unknown", would inspirefuture generationsto endure hardships with similar fortitude and "no less valor".[4]The Duke also read out a message from the King, which said, "On this spot, in the central vista of the Capital of India, there will stand a Memorial Archway, designed to keep", in the thoughts of future generations, "the glorious sacrifice of the officers and men of the Indian Army who fought and fell". During the ceremony, theDeccan Horse,3rd Sappers and Miners,6th Jat Light Infantry,34th Sikh Pioneers,39th Garhwal Rifles,59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force),117th Mahrattas,and5th Gurkha Rifles.The land was owned by contractorSir Sobha Singhwho helped construct large tracts of New Delhi and was the primary contractor.[5][6]

India gate, as seen from Kartavya Path

Ten years after the foundation stone's laying on 12 February 1931, the memorial was inaugurated byLord Irwin,who, on the occasion, said "those who after us shall look upon this monument may learn in pondering its purpose something of that sacrifice and service which the names upon its walls record."[7]In the decade between the laying of foundation stone of the memorial and its inauguration, the rail-line was shifted to run along theYamuna River,and theNew Delhi Railway Stationwas opened in 1926.[8]

The Gate, which is illuminated every evening from 19:00 hrs to 21:30 hrs, today serves as one of Delhi's most important tourist attractions. Cars used to travel through the gate until it was closed to traffic.[citation needed]The Republic Day Parade starts fromRashtrapati Bhavanand passes around the India Gate.[citation needed]India gate is often a location for civil society protests, including demonstrations in response to the2011 anti-corruption movement.[9][10][11]

In 2017, the India Gate wastwinnedwith theArch of RemembranceinLeicester,England, another Lutyens war memorial, following a very similar design but on a smaller scale. In a ceremony, India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom laid a wreath at the arch in Leicester and the British High Commissioner to India laid one at the India Gate.[12]

Design and structure[edit]

Angled view

The memorial gate was designed bySir Edwin Lutyens,who was not only the main architect of New Delhi but also a member of the Imperial War Graves Commission and one of Europe's foremost designers of war graves and memorials. He designed sixty-six war memorials in Europe, including the highly regardedCenotaph in Londonin 1919, the first national war memorial erected after World War I, for which he was commissioned byDavid Lloyd George,the British Prime Minister.[13]The memorial in New Delhi, like the Cenotaph in London, is a secular memorial, free of religious and "culturally-specific iconography such as crosses". Lutyens according to his biographer, Christopher Hussey, relied on the "elemental mode", a style of commemoration based on a "universal architectural style free of religious ornamentation".

Looking up, through the main arch

The India Gate, which has been called a "creative reworking of the Arc de Triomphe" has a span of 30 feet (9.1 m) across the larger opening and lies on the eastern axial end of Kingsway, present-day Kartavya Path, thecentral vistaand main ceremonial procession route in New Delhi.[13]The 42-metre-tall (138 ft) India Gate stands on a low base of redBharatpurstone and rises in stages to a hugecornicemoulding above afriezewithsunburstmotifs. The shallow domed bowl at the top was intended to be filled with burning oil on anniversaries, but this is rarely done.[citation needed]The memorial-gate hexagon complex, with a diameter of about 625 metres (2,051 ft), covers approximately 306,000 m2(3,290,000 sq ft) in area.[citation needed]

The India Gate structure is oblong, with a large archway on each of the four faces, but the arches on the long sides are larger and higher. The arches on the shorter sides are blocked at the bottom, with doorways, but open higher up. Technically the four arches make the building atetrapylon.There is a large ornament in stone above the blocked bottom of the arches on the shorter sides.Mouldingsrun around the building at the levels from which both sizes of arch rise, and thekeystonesof the arches protrude slightly. The top of the keystones on the short sides' arches touch the bottom of the moulding at the base level of the higher long sides' arches. The ceilings and undersides of the arches are decorated with well-spacedcoffers.

Inscriptions[edit]

The cornice of the India Gate is inscribed with Imperial suns while both sides of the arch have INDIA, flanked by the dates MCMXIV ('1914'; on the left) and MCMXIX ('1919'; on the right). Below the word INDIA, in capital letters, is inscribed:

Inscription at top of the gate

To the dead of the Indian Armies who fell and are honoured in France and Flanders, Mesopotamia and Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and elsewhere in the Near and Far East and in Sacred Memory also of those whose names are here recorded and who fell in India on the North West Frontier and during the Third Afghan War.

13,313 names are engraved out of which 12,357 are Indian.[1][2]Access to read the names on the memorial is restricted, though they can be seen on theCommonwealth War Graves Commission(CWGC) website, which lists the names with their respective date of death, unit name, regiment, place on gate where name is inscribed, location, and other information).[14]

Canopy[edit]

Canopy behind India gate
Canopy in the vicinity of the gate

About 150 metres (490 ft) east of the gate, at a junction of six roads, is a 73 feet (22 m)cupola,inspired by a sixth-century pavilion fromMahabalipuram.Lutyens used fourDelhi Ordercolumns to support the domed canopy and itschhajja.[15][16]

Statue of King-Emperor George V[edit]

Canopy in 1952 with the George V statue still in place

In the autumn of 1930,Jagatjit Singh,the Maharaja ofKapurthala State,organized an appeal amongst the Indian princely rulers to erect a statue ofKing-Emperor George Vin New Delhi to commemorate the sovereign's recent recovery fromsepsis.[17]As originally conceived, the statue would have depicted the monarch in marble riding in a howdah atop a red stone elephant; a canopy was not then included in the design.[18]The final concept, approved by George V before his death, dispensed with the elephant, instead incorporating a red stone canopy and pedestal, with the pedestal standing 34.5 feet (10.52 m) tall.[19]An 18.75 feet (5.72 m) tall marble statue of the King-Emperor wearing hisDelhi Durbarcoronation robes andImperial State Crown,bearing the Britishglobus crucigerand sceptre, was placed atop the pedestal, which bore the Royal Coat of Arms and the inscription GEORGE V R I, the "R I" designating him as 'Rex Imperator' or 'King Emperor'.[19][20]

The combined height of the statue and pedestal was 53.25 feet (16.23 m); while the pedestal and canopy were designed by Lutyens, the statue was designed byCharles Sargeant Jaggerof theRoyal Academy of Arts.The canopy was topped by a gildedTudor Crownand bore the Royal Cyphers of George V,[21]with the completed monument intended to "mark the loyalty and attachment of the Ruling Princes and Chiefs of India to the Person and Throne of the King-Emperor."[19]Following the premature death of Jagger, the statue's head and crown were completed by one of his assistants in England and then shipped to India, while the remainder of the monument was carved in India.[22]

The statue's installation in the autumn of 1936,[22]amidst theIndian independence movement,made it a target for Independence activists; on the night of 3 January 1943, during theQuit India movement,Hemwati Nandan BahugunaandManubhai Shahscaled the statue, smashed its nose and draped it with a large black cloth inscribed "Death to the Tyrant."[23]The statue remained standing at its original site for two decades following the nation's independence in 1947, but certain political factions increasingly objected to its continued presence in its central location, particularly after the tenth anniversary of Independence and the centennial of theIndian Rebellion of 1857.[20]On the night of 12–13 August 1958, the royal insignia of George V and the Tudor Crown atop the canopy were removed.[21]

With increasing pressure from Socialist members of Parliament, then-Deputy Minister Home AffairsLalit Narayan Mishrastated in May 1964 that all British statuary would be removed from the national capital by 1966.[20]Two days beforeIndependence Dayin 1965, members of theSamyukta Socialist Partyoverpowered two constables guarding the site, covered the statue in tar and defaced its imperial crown, nose and one ear, also leaving a photo ofSubhas Chandra Boseat the monument.[20]Despite the resulting adverse publicity and the growing controversy over the situation, the matter of relocating the statue dragged on for several years.[20]The British government rejected a proposal to repatriate the monument to the United Kingdom, citing the lack of an appropriate site and sufficient funds, while the British High Commission in New Delhi declined to have the statue relocated to their compound, due to limited space.[20]Efforts to move the statue to a Delhi park were strongly opposed by the nationalistBharatiya Jana Sangh,which then held power in the city.[20]Finally, in late 1968, the statue was removed from its position beneath the canopy and briefly placed in storage before being moved to Delhi'sCoronation Park,where it joined other British Raj-era statues.[20]

During and after the statue's removal, it was often suggested that a statue ofMahatma Gandhibe placed under the canopy.[20]The suggestion was even discussed in the Indian Parliament.[citation needed]In 1981, the government had in response to a question in the Parliament, confirmed that it was considering the installation of a Gandhi statue under the empty canopy, but nothing came of it.[24]

Subhas Chandra Bose statue[edit]

Main article:Statue of Subhas Chandra Bose
Prime MinisterNarendra Modiunveils the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate, during the inauguration of the 'Kartavya Path', in New Delhi on 8 September 2022.

On 21 January 2022, Prime MinisterNarendra Modiannounced that a statue ofSubhas Chandra Bosewould be installed in the canopy at India Gate. The announcement came two days before the 125th anniversary of his birth. A 28 feet high and 6 feet wide 3Dholographicstatue of Bose was inaugurated at the site on 23 January 2022, celebrated asParakram Diwas(Courage Day).[25][26]On this occasion, an award in the name of Bose was instituted for the exemplary work in disaster management. On 8 September 2022, Prime MinisterNarendra Modiinaugurated the newly made statue ofNetaji Subhas Chandra Bosenear the India Gate.

Amar Jawan Jyoti[edit]

Main article:Amar Jawan Jyoti
Amar Jawan Jyoti, beneath the arch of the gate

Amar Jawan Jyoti, or the flame of the immortal soldier, is a structure consisting of black marble plinth, with reversed rifle, capped by war helmet, bound by four urns, each with the permanent light (jyoti) from compressed natural gas flames,[27]erected under the India gate to commemorate Indian soldiers martyred in the war of the liberation of Bangladesh in December 1971. It was inaugurated by the then Prime MinisterIndira Gandhion 26 January 1972, the twenty-third Indian Republic Day.[citation needed]

Since the installation of the Amar Jawan Jyoti, it has served as India'stomb of the unknown soldier.[citation needed]It is staffed around the clock by the Indian armed forces.[citation needed]Wreaths are placed at the Amar Jawan Jyoti every Republic Day,Vijay Diwas,and Infantry Day[a]by the Prime Minister and the Chiefs of the Armed Forces.[28]

On 21 January 2022 the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate was merged with the Amar Jawan Jyoti at the National War Memorial.[29]

National War Memorial[edit]

Main article:National War Memorial (India)
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
150m
160yds
Children's park
C - Hexagon
India Gate
Netaji
hologram
statue
Param Yodha Sthal
(Ultimate Warrior Site)
Amar Jawan Jyoti
National War Memorial
National War Memorial (NWM) complex and India Gate within the C-Hexagon, with Amar Jawan Jyoti and Netaji hologram statue. The rings of the NWM form a chakravyūha.

In July 2014, the government announced plans to construct aNational War Memorialin the C-Hexagon (India Gate Circle), and an adjoining National War Museum. The cabinet allocated₹500crore(US$60 million) for the project.[30]The National War Memorial was completed in January, 2019.[31][32]Since January 2022, it houses theAmar Jawan Jyoti,or the "Flame of the Immortal Soldier".[29]

Gallery[edit]

India Gate View Point

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes
  1. ^Infantry Day is the day Indian infantry air landed at Srinagar on 27 October 1947 to stop and defeat the Pakistani mercenaries' attack on Jammu and Kashmir.
Citations
  1. ^abChhina, Last Post. Indian War Memorials Around the World (2014),pp. 78.
  2. ^abc"Delhi Memorial (India Gate)".Commonwealth War Graves Commission.Archivedfrom the original on 14 April 2021.Retrieved24 January2022.
  3. ^David A. Johnson; Nicole F. Gilbertson (4 August 2010)."Commemorations of Imperial Sacrifice at Home and Abroad: British Memorials of the Great War"(PDF).The History Teacher.4.43:564–584.Retrieved9 April2014.
  4. ^abConnaught, Duke of, Arthur (1921).His Royal Highness The Duke of Connaught in India 1921 Being a Collection of the Speeches Delivered by His Royal Highness.Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing. pp. 69–71.OL17945606M.
  5. ^Rahman, Nadia (27 January 2013)."Khushwant Singh: An Unequivocal Spokesman of Politics in <i>Truth, Love & a Little Malice: An Autobiography</i>".Stamford Journal of English.4:111–123.doi:10.3329/sje.v4i0.13492.ISSN2408-8838.
  6. ^Tiwari, Rajiv (2020).Delhi A Travel Guide.Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd.ISBN9798128819703.
  7. ^Metcalf, Thomas R.(31 March 2014)."WW I: India's Great War Dulce Et Decorum Est India Gate, our WW-I cenotaph, now stands for an abstracted ideal".Outlook(31 March 2014). Archived fromthe originalon 9 April 2014.Retrieved8 April2014.
  8. ^"A fine balance of luxury and care".Hindustan Times.21 July 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 27 November 2011.
  9. ^Dutta, Aesha (23 December 2012)."India Gate turns war zone as protests swell".The Hindu BusinessLine Online.Retrieved4 September2019.
  10. ^Ghosh, Dwaipayan (28 August 2012)."Limit public access to India Gate: Delhi Police".Economic Times.Retrieved4 September2019.
  11. ^PTI (29 July 2019)."Protest held at India Gate to demand justice for Unnao rape survivor".India Today.Retrieved4 September2019.
  12. ^"Leicester and New Delhi war memorials links ceremonies".BBC News.25 May 2017.Retrieved19 December2018.
  13. ^abDavid A. Johnson; Nicole F. Gilbertson (4 August 2010)."Commemorations of Imperial Sacrifice at Home and Abroad: British Memorials of the Great War"(PDF).The History Teacher.4.43:564–584.Retrieved9 April2014.
  14. ^"Find War Dead: DELHI MEMORIAL (INDIA GATE)".Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).Retrieved3 September2014.
  15. ^Stamp, Gavin(1981). "King George V Memorial, Princes' Place, New Delhi".Lutyens: The Work of the English Architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944).London:Arts Council of Great Britain.p. 180.ISBN978-0-7287-0304-9.
  16. ^Gradidge, Roderick(1981).Edwin Lutyens: Architect Laureate.London: George Allen and Unwin. p. 151.ISBN978-0-04-720023-6.
  17. ^"The Indian Princes and the King-Emperor".The Times.4 October 1930. p. 9.
  18. ^"King-Emperor's Statue In Delhi".The Times.3 April 1932. p. 11.
  19. ^abc"Delhi Statue Of King-Emperor".The Times.25 August 1934. p. 9.
  20. ^abcdefghiMcGarr, Paul (2015)."The Viceroys are Disappearing from the Roundabouts in Delhi: British symbols of power in post-colonial India".Modern Asian Studies.49(3): 787–831.doi:10.1017/s0026749x14000080.
  21. ^ab"Crown over Delhi Statue Removed - George V Memorial".The Times.14 August 1958. p. 6.
  22. ^ab"Delhi Statue Of King George".The Times.21 January 1936. p. 14.
  23. ^Joshi, Naveen (1997).Freedom Fighters Remember.New Delhi: Government of India. p. 76.ISBN81-230-0575-X.
  24. ^India. Parliament. House of the People (1981).Lok Sabha Debates.Lok Sabha Secretariat. pp. 197–.
  25. ^"Netaji birth anniversary: PM Modi to unveil hologram statue today at India Gate".Livemint.23 January 2022.Retrieved23 January2022.
  26. ^"Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti: PM Modi to install hologram statue at India Gate today".Business Today.23 January 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 23 January 2022.Retrieved23 January2022.
  27. ^Gupta, Geeta (10 June 2012)."Keeper of the flame".Indian Express Archive.Retrieved10 April2014.
  28. ^Goswami, Col (retd) Manoranjan (30 August 2009)."War memorial".Assam Tribune.Archived fromthe originalon 13 April 2014.Retrieved10 April2014.
  29. ^abBose, Joydeep (21 January 2022)."In historic move, Amar Jawan Jyoti merged with National War Memorial flame".Hindustan Times.Retrieved23 January2022.
  30. ^Joseph, Josy(7 October 2015)."Cabinet clears Rs. 500 crore for National War Memorial".The Hindu.ISSN0971-751X.Retrieved30 January2019.
  31. ^Pandit, Rajat (1 January 2019)."Delhi: War memorial ready, 60 years after it was first proposed".The Times of India.Archivedfrom the original on 3 January 2019.Retrieved30 January2019.
  32. ^Bhatnagar, Gaurav Vivek (21 April 2018)."National War Memorial Takes Shape Six Decades After Being Conceived".The Wire.Archived fromthe originalon 30 January 2019.Retrieved30 January2019.

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

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