A ten-minute walk from Bangabhavan, where I had put up in New Delhi, passing by Max Mueller Bhavan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Baroda House, I reached India Gate. The 42 metre tall India Gate is situated such that many important roads branch out from it. At the heart of New Delhi, on Rajpath and leading to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, it is a monument built by Edwin Lutyens in memory of the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in World War I and Afgan Wars. However, many of these roads closer to the Gate have been closed to vehicular traffic due to terrorist threats in recent years.
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 flames that are perpetually kept alive.
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 flames that are perpetually kept alive.
Inscribed on top of India Gate in capital letters is the line:
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 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.
The names of the soldiers who died in these wars are inscribed on the walls.
Unfortunately, during the time I was there in Delhi, the India Gate was not as brightly lit up as it usually is. Interestingly though, when I walked up to it, a bigger area was cordoned off, as the Navy Day was being celebrated. Hence I had to be satisfied by looking from a distance at one the most important, significant and beautiful monuments of modern time in Delhi.
The second image has been captured using optical zoom only. Digital zoom was not required and is usually avoided as it stretches the image and leads to poor quality shots.
The names of the soldiers who died in these wars are inscribed on the walls.
Unfortunately, during the time I was there in Delhi, the India Gate was not as brightly lit up as it usually is. Interestingly though, when I walked up to it, a bigger area was cordoned off, as the Navy Day was being celebrated. Hence I had to be satisfied by looking from a distance at one the most important, significant and beautiful monuments of modern time in Delhi.
The second image has been captured using optical zoom only. Digital zoom was not required and is usually avoided as it stretches the image and leads to poor quality shots.
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