India Gate

India Gate
 India
Front view, with the canopy (holding the Statue of Subhas Chandra Bose) in the background
For the martyred soldiers 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″N 77°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]

The India Gate (formerly known as All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath (officially called Kartavya path) on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi. It stands as a memorial to 74,187 soldiers of the Indian Army who died between 1914 and 1921 in the First World War, in France, Flanders, Mesopotamia, Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and elsewhere in the Near and the Far East, and the Third 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 Sir Edwin Lutyens, the gate evokes the architectural style of the ancient Roman triumphal arches such as the Arch of Constantine in Rome, and later memorial arches; it is often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the Gateway of India in Mumbai.

Following the Bangladesh Liberation war in 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, called Amar Jawan Jyoti (Flame of the Immortal Soldier), has since 1971 served as India's tomb of the unknown soldier. India Gate is counted amongst the largest war memorials in India and every Republic Day, the Prime Minister visits the Gate to pay their tributes to the Amar Jawan Jyoti, following which the Republic Day parade starts. India Gate is often a location for civil society protests, and is popular with tourists.

  1. ^ Chhina, Last Post. Indian War Memorials Around the World (2014), pp. 78.
  2. ^ a b "Delhi Memorial (India Gate)". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2022.