New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) The foundation stone of the All-India War Memorial Arch in Delhi or India Gate as it is known today, was laid on this very day 101 years ago, and a gentle dome with a sunken bowl was made on top of the monument to house a commemorative flame, according to old books and archival records.
A replica of the memorial arch was also ceremoniously unveiled on the occasion at the site, published photographs of the historic event show.
The 42 m-high All India War Memorial Arch, built of buff sandstone on a base of red sandstone, was erected to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface.
The foundation stone of the memorial, designed by architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, was laid on February 10, 1921 by British royal Duke of Connaught during his India visit, according to old records.
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, was an uncle of King George V, the then reigning monarch of the British Empire who had held a grand Durbar in Delhi in 1911 where he had also announced the shifting of the imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi.
The iconic landmark, now a veritable symbol of Delhi and India at large, was built during the construction of the new imperial capital, and was unveiled in February 1931 by the then Viceroy Lord Irwin, amid the celebrations held to mark the official inauguration of ‘New Delhi’.
During the construction of the new imperial capital city, the World War I broke out and a large number of soldiers from the British Indian Army were sent to the war zones.
The India Gate, a prominent tourist attraction today is a solemn memorial to the soldiers from India who died in action, and originally called the All-India War Memorial Arch.
Over 80,000 Indian laid their lives in those campaigns and India Gate bears names of 13,516 etched over its surface.
Amar Jawan Jyoti — an eternal flame with an inverted bayonet and a soldier’s helmet — was built to commemorate India’s victory in the Indo-Pak War of 1971, and was inaugurated by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972.
After flickering continuously for 50 years beneath the arches of the India Gate, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was on January 21 merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial, sparking a row, amid divided opinion of experts and ex-servicemen, as India Gate had turned a page.
However, old publications and archival records and images show Lutyens had designed a flat dome on top of the war memorial, with a bowl, from which “a column of smoke by day and of flame by night will rise”.
Accessed by PTI, The Architectural Review published in London in January 1931 ahead of inauguration of ‘New Delhi’, has a section on the All India War Memorial Arch.
“On top of this rests a small flat dome, finished with a convex eye, slightly moulded. This dome pays a compliment of gentle imitation to that of the Viceroy’s House, two miles off. But, its eventual function will be to emit a huge panache of memorial smoke, which the Public Works Department, slightly despairing, hope to achieve by means of gas and electric fans,” says chapter three of the book.
The memorial was dedicated in a simple and dignified ceremony and a flame was lit on top of the landmark, according to old records and pictures associated with the solemn event that took place 91 years ago.
An edition of ‘Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in India, Burma & Ceylon’ by John Murray, published in 1938, also mentions about the flame.
The foundation stone was laid by HRH Duke of Connaught in 1921 and dedication by Lord Irwin took place in February 1931 when “the Fire Remembrance was lighted in the bowl”.
The foundation stone laying ceremony for monumental sandstone arch, often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, was also a solemn occasion, and representatives from all units of the British Indian Army had attended the function, according to old news reportage of the event.
The then Viceroy Lord Chelmsford in his speech in February 1921 had said: “It is as a tribute to the memory of these heroes, known and unknown, that we are erecting the All India War Memorial”.
Work had begun on creating a ‘new capital’ in the Raisina Hill area, after its foundation stone was laid by King George V on December 15, 1911.
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker laid out an extraordinary new capital, with the Viceroy’s House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) and the North Block and South Block fronting it, being the centrepiece of ‘New Delhi’ which was officially named so later in 1926. PTI KND ZMN
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