The
India Gate is the national monument of India. Situated in the heart of
New Delhi, it was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.The monument is inspired by Arc de Triomphe located in Paris, which in turn is inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus. It was built in 1931. Originally known as the All India War Memorial, it is a prominent landmark in Delhi and commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who lost their lives 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, Emperor of India stood under the now vacant canopy in front of the India Gate, but it was removed to
Coronation Park together with a number of other British Raj-era 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").
Site :
Until the 1920s, the Old Delhi Railway Station served the entire city, and the Agra–Delhi railway line cut through what is today known as Lutyens' Delhi and the site of the India Gate on Kingsway (now
Rajpath). Eventually the line was shifted to run along the Yamuna river, and when that route opened in 1924, the construction of the memorial site could begin. The
New Delhi Railway Station was opened in 1926, ahead of the inauguration of the city of the same name in 1931.
The 42-metre tall India Gate is situated in such a way that many important roads spread out from it. Traffic passing around India Gate used to be continuous until the roads were closed to the public. The lawns around Rajpath throng with people during the evening, when the monument is lit up.The India Gate hexagon complex, with a diameter of about 625 metres, covers approximately 306,000m sq in area.The Republic Day Parade starts from
Rashtrapati Bhavan and passes through India Gate.
