India Gate The National Monument Of India;

India Gate

The India Gate is the national monument of India. Situated in the heart of New Delhi, The foundation stone of the gate then called the All India War Memorial, was laid on 10 February 1921, It was built in 1931. The memorial-gate was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who was also the main architect of New Delhi.

Originally known as the All India War Memorial, it is a prominent landmark in Delhi and commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the Indian Empire, or more correctly the British Raj in World War I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. It is composed of red and pale sandstone and granite.

Originally, a statue of George V of the United Kingdom had stood under the now vacant canopy in front of the India Gate, but it was removed to Coronation Park with other statues.

Following India's independence, the India Gate became the site of the Indian Army's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, known as Amar Jawan Jyoti ("the flame of the immortal soldier"). Burning in a shrine under the arch of India Gate since 1971 is the Amar Jawan Jyoti (the flame of the immortal soldier) which marks the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

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).

Dimensions:

The structure has a span of 30 feet, and lies on the eastern axial end of Kingsway, present day Rajpath, the central vista and main ceremonial procession route in New Delhi.

The 42-metre (138-foot)-tall India gate, stands on a low base of red Bharatpur stone and rises in stages to a huge moulding.

The shallow domed bowl at the top was intended to be filled with burning oil on anniversaries but this is rarely done.

The memorial-gate hexagon complex, with a diameter of about 625 metres, covers approximately 306,000 m2 in area.