India Gate: Difference between revisions

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|designer=[[Sir Edwin Lutyens]]

|commemorates=the dead of the Indian Armies who fell during World War 1 and the Third Afghan War}}

The '''India Gate''' (formerly known as the '''All India War Memorial''') is a war memorial located astride the [[Rajpath]], on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of [[New Delhi, India|New Delhi]], formerly called Kingsway. It stands as a memorial to 84,000 soldiers of the [[British Indian Army]] who died in between 1914 and 1921 in the [[World War I|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.<ref name="DELHI MEMORIAL">{{cite web|year=|title=Delhi Memorial (India Gate)|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/142700/DELHI%20MEMORIAL%20%28INDIA%20GATE%29|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414035151/https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/142700/delhi%20memorial%20(india%20gate)/|archive-date=14 April 2021|access-date=24 January 2022|website=|publisher=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]}}</ref> Designed by Sir [[Edwin Lutyens]], the gate evokes the architectural style of the [[Memorial gates and arches|memorial arch]] such as the [[Arch of Constantine]], in Rome, and is often compared to the [[Arc de Triomphe]] in Paris, and the [[Gateway of India]] in Mumbai.

== India Gate ==

The India Gate was part of the work of the [[Imperial War Graves Commission]] (IWGC), which came into existence in December 1918 under the British rule for building war graves and memorials to soldiers who were killed in the First World War.<ref name="The History Teacher /9 April">{{cite journal |last=David A. Johnson |author2=Nicole F. Gilbertson |title=Commemorations of Imperial Sacrifice at Home and Abroad: British Memorials of the Great War |journal=The History Teacher |date=4 August 2010 |volume=43 |series=4 |pages=564-584 |url=http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/pdfs/Johnson_and_Gilbertson.pdf|access-date=9 April 2014}}</ref> The foundation stone of the gate then called the All India War Memorial, was laid on 10 February 1921, at 16:30, by the visiting [[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|Duke of Connaught]] in a ceremony attended by Officers and Men of the British Indian Army, [[Imperial Service Troops]], the Commander in Chief, and [[Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford|Chelmsford]], the viceroy.<ref name="Duke, war memorial">{{cite book|last=Connaught, Duke of|first=Arthur|title=His Royal Highness The Duke of Connaught in India 1921 Being a Collection of the Speeches Delivered by His Royal Highness.|year=1921|publisher=Superintendent Government Printing|location=Calcutta|pages=69–71|ol=17945606M}}</ref> 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 inspire [[future generations]] to endure hardships with similar fortitude and "no less valour".<ref name="Duke, war memorial"/> The Duke also read out a message by 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 British Indian Army who fought and fell". During the ceremony, the [[Deccan Horse]], 3rd Sappers and Miners, [[6th Jat Light Infantry]], [[34th Sikh Pioneers]], [[39th Garhwal Rifles]], [[59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force)]], [[117th Mahrattas]], and [[5th Gurkha Rifles]]  

Ten years after the foundation stone laying ceremony, on 12 February 1931, the memorial was inaugurated by [[Lord 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."<ref name="Metcalf,india gate">{{cite journal|last=Metcalf|first=Thomas R.|author-link=Thomas R. Metcalf|date=31 March 2014|title=WW I: India's Great War Dulce Et Decorum Est India Gate, our WW-I cenotaph, now stands for an abstracted ideal|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?289882|url-status=dead|journal=Outlook|issue=31 March 2014|access-date=8 April 2014|archive-date=9 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409002957/http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?289882}}</ref> In the decade between the laying of foundation stone of the memorial and its inauguration, the rail-line was shifted to run along the [[Yamuna river]], and the [[New Delhi Railway Station]] was opened in 1926.<ref name=htlux>{{cite news|title=A fine balance of luxury and care |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/chunk-ht-ui-newdelhi100years-topstories/A-fine-balance-of-luxury-and-care/Article1-723880.aspx |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=21 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127160500/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/chunk-ht-ui-newdelhi100years-topstories/A-fine-balance-of-luxury-and-care/Article1-723880.aspx |archive-date=27 November 2011 }}</ref>

The gate, which is illuminated every evening from 19:00 to 21:30, 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|date=September 2019}} The Republic Day Parade starts from [[Rashtrapati Bhavan]] and passes around the India Gate.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} India gate is often a location for civil society protests, including demonstrations in response to the [[2012 Delhi gang rape|Nirbhaya rape case]] in 2012 and the [[Unnao rape case]] in 2017, and as part of the [[2011 Indian anti-corruption movement|2011 anti-corruption movement]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dutta|first=Aesha|date=23 December 2012|title=India Gate turns war zone as protests swell|work=The Hindu BusinessLine Online|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/india-gate-turns-war-zone-as-protests-swell/article20543914.ece1|access-date=4 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/limit-public-access-to-india-gate-delhi-police/articleshow/15863509.cms?from=mdr |title=Limit public access to India Gate: Delhi Police |last=Ghosh |first=Dwaipayan |date=28 August 2012 |work=Economic Times |access-date=4 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/protest-held-at-india-gate-to-demand-justice-for-unnao-rape-survivor-1574997-2019-07-29 |title=Protest held at India Gate to demand justice for Unnao rape survivor |author=PTI |date=29 July 2019 |work=India Today|access-date=4 September 2019}}</ref>

In 2017, the India Gate was twinned with the [[Arch of Remembrance]] in [[Leicester]], England,{{further explanation needed|date=September 2019}} 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.<ref>{{cite news|date=25 May 2017|title=Leicester and New Delhi war memorials links ceremonies|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-40045122|access-date=19 December 2018}}</ref>

The memorial-gate was designed by [[Sir 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 regarded  [[The Cenotaph, Whitehall|Cenotaph in London]] in 1919, the first national war memorial erected after World War I, for which he was commissioned by [[David Lloyd George]], the British prime minister.<ref name="The History Teacher /9 April"/> 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 "universal architectural style free of religious ornamentation".

The India gate, which has been called a "creative reworking of the Arc de Triomphe" has a span of 30 feet, and lies on the eastern axial end of Kingsway, present day Rajpath, the [https://centralvista.gov.in/ central vista] and main ceremonial procession route in New Delhi.<ref name="The History Teacher /9 April"/> The {{convert|42|m|ft|adj=on|abbr=off}}-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.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} The memorial-gate hexagon complex, with a diameter of about 625 metres, covers approximately 306,000&nbsp;m² in area.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

[[File:India Gate, New Delhi.jpg|thumb|290x290px|Inscription at top of the gate]]

[[File:Canopy behind India Gate.jpg|alt=Canopy behind India gate|thumb|169x169px|Canopy in vicinity of the gate]]

[[File:Statue av Kong Georg V av Storbritannia ved India Gate (1952) (16872147692).jpg|thumb|190x190px|Canopy in 1952 with the George V statue still in place]]

About {{Convert|150|m|ft}} east of the gate, at a junction of six roads, is a {{Convert|73|ft|m}} [[cupola]], inspired by a sixth-century pavilion from [[Mahabalipuram]]. Lutyens used four [[Delhi Order]] columns to support the domed canopy and its ''[[chhajja]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Lutyens: The Work of the English Architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944) |chapter=King George V Memorial, Princes' Place, New Delhi |last=Stamp |first=Gavin |author-link=Gavin Stamp |year=1981 |publisher=[[Arts Council of Great Britain]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7287-0304-9 |page=180}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gradidge|first=Roderick|title=Edwin Lutyens: Architect Laureate|publisher=George Allen and Unwin|year=1981|isbn=978-0-04-720023-6|location=London|page=151|author-link=Roderick Gradidge}}</ref>  

=== Statue of King-Emperor George V ===

In the autumn of 1930, [[Jagatjit Singh]], the Maharaja of [[Kapurthala State]], organised an appeal amongst the Indian princely rulers to erect a statue of [[George V of the United Kingdom|King-Emperor George V]] in New Delhi to commemorate the sovereign's recent recovery from [[sepsis]].<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=4 October 1930 |title=The Indian Princes and the King-Emperor|work=The Times|page=9}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=3 April 1932 |title=King-Emperor's Statue In Delhi|work=The Times|page=11}}</ref> 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 {{convert|34.5|ft|m|2}} tall.<ref name="statue_Times"/> An {{convert|18.75|ft|m|2}} tall marble statue of the King-Emperor wearing his [[Delhi Durbar]] coronation robes and [[Imperial State Crown]], bearing the British [[globus cruciger]] and 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'.<ref name="statue_Times"/><ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947"/> The combined height of the statue and pedestal was {{convert|53.25|ft|m|2}}; while the pedestal and canopy were designed by Lutyens, the statue was designed by [[Charles Sargeant Jagger]] of the [[Royal Academy of Arts]]. The canopy was topped by a gilded [[Tudor Crown (heraldry)|Tudor Crown]] and bore the Royal Cyphers of George V,<ref name="crown">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=14 August 1958 |title=Crown over Delhi Statue Removed - George V Memorial|work=The Times|page=6}}</ref> 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."<ref name="statue_Times">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=25 August 1934 |title=Delhi Statue Of King-Emperor|work=The Times|page=9}}</ref> 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.<ref name="statue_George">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=21 January 1936 |title=Delhi Statue Of King George|work=The Times|page=14}}</ref>

The statue's installation in the autumn of 1936,<ref name="statue_George"/> amidst the [[Indian independence movement]], made it a target for Independence activists; on the night of 3 January 1943, during the [[Quit India movement]], [[Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna]] and [[Manubhai Shah]] scaled the statue, smashed its nose and draped it with a large black cloth inscribed "Death to the Tyrant."<ref>{{cite book |last=Joshi |first=Naveen |title=Freedom Fighters Remember |year=1997 |publisher=Government of India |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-230-0575-X |page=76}}</ref> 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 the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947">{{cite journal |last1=McGarr |first1=Paul |date=2015 |title=The Viceroys are Disappearing from the Roundabouts in Delhi: British symbols of power in post-colonial India |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=787–831 |doi= 10.1017/s0026749x14000080|doi-access=free }}</ref> On the night of 12–13 August 1958, the royal insignia of George V and the Tudor Crown atop the canopy were removed.<ref name="crown"/>

With increasing pressure from Socialist members of Parliament, then-Deputy Minister Home Affairs [[Lalit Narayan Mishra]] stated in May 1964 that all British statuary would be removed from the national capital by 1966.<ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947"/> Two days before [[Independence Day (India)|Independence Day]] in 1965, members of the [[Samyukta Socialist Party]] overpowered two constables guarding the site, covered the statue in tar and defaced its imperial crown, nose and one ear, also leaving a photo of [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] at the monument.<ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947"/> Despite the resulting adverse publicity and the growing controversy over the situation, the matter of relocating the statue dragged on for several years.<ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947"/> 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.<ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947"/> Efforts to move the statue to a Delhi park were strongly opposed by the nationalist [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]], which then held power in the city.<ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947"/> Finally, in late 1968, the statue was removed from its position beneath the canopy and briefly placed in storage before being moved to Delhi's [[Coronation Park, Delhi|Coronation Park]], where it joined other British Raj-era statues.<ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947"/> During and after the statue's removal, it was often suggested that a statue of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] be placed under the canopy.<ref name="British_monuments_in_India_post_1947" /> The suggestion was even discussed in the Indian Parliament.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} 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.<ref name="PeopleSabha1903">{{cite book|author1=India. Parliament. House of the People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlI3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA197|title=Lok Sabha Debates|publisher=Lok Sabha Secretariat.|year=1981|pages=197–}}</ref>

 

[[File:Amar Javan Jyoti.jpg|thumb|right|241x241px|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,<ref name="gupta, 10dec">{{cite news|last=Gupta|first=Geeta|date=10 June 2012|title=Keeper of the flame|newspaper=Indian Express Archive|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/keeper-of-the-flame/960016/0|access-date=10 April 2014}}</ref> 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 Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] on 26 January 1972, the twenty-third Indian Republic Day.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}  

 

Since the installation of the Amar Jawan Jyoti, it has served as India's [[tomb of the unknown soldier]].{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} It is staffed around the clock by the Indian armed forces.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} Wreaths are placed at the Amar Jawan Jyoti every Republic Day, [[Vijay Diwas (India)|Vijay Diwas]], and Infantry Day{{Efn|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.}} by the Prime Minister and the Chiefs of the Armed Forces.<ref name="Goswami,10 april">{{cite news|last=Goswami|first=Col (retd) Manoranjan|date=30 August 2009|title=War memorial|newspaper=Assam Tribune|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=aug3009/edit3|url-status=dead|access-date=10 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413143631/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=aug3009/edit3|archive-date=13 April 2014}}</ref>

 

On 21 January 2022 the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate was merged with the Amar Jawan Jyoti at the National War Memorial.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Bose|first=Joydeep|date=2022-01-21|title=In historic move, Amar Jawan Jyoti merged with National War Memorial flame|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/in-historic-move-amar-jawan-jyoti-merged-with-national-war-memorial-flame-101642759893068.html|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-23|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref>

In July 2014, the government announced plans to construct a [[National War Memorial (India)|National War Memorial]] in the C-Hexagon (India Gate Circle), and an adjoining National War Museum. The cabinet allocated {{INRConvert|500|c|lk=on}} for the project.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Joseph|first=Josy|author-link=Josy Joseph|date=7 October 2015|title=Cabinet clears Rs. 500 crore for National War Memorial|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cabinet-clears-rs-500-crore-for-war-memorial-museum-for-postindependence-martyrs/article7734542.ece|access-date=2019-01-30|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> The National War Memorial was completed in January 2019.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/war-museum-ready-60-yrs-after-it-was-first-proposed/articleshow/67330108.cms|title=Delhi: War memorial ready, 60 years after it was first proposed|last=Pandit|first=Rajat|date=1 January 2019|website=The Times of India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103074259/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//city/delhi/war-museum-ready-60-yrs-after-it-was-first-proposed/articleshow/67330108.cms|archive-date=3 January 2019|url-status=live|access-date=2019-01-30}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/urban/national-war-museum-delhi-india-gate|title=National War Memorial Takes Shape Six Decades After Being Conceived|last=Bhatnagar|first=Gaurav Vivek|date=21 April 2018|website=The Wire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130125759/https://thewire.in/urban/national-war-museum-delhi-india-gate|archive-date=30 January 2019|access-date=2019-01-30}}</ref> Since January 2022, it houses the [[Amar Jawan Jyoti]], or the "Flame of the Immortal Soldier".<ref name=":2" />

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