In Pics: Amar Jawan Jyoti merged with National War Memorial flame

 | Updated: Jan 22, 2022, 09:15 AM IST

The Amar Jawan Jyoti was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial

Amar Jawan Jyoti

The Amar Jawan Jyoti was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial, while an imposing statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is set to occupy its famed canopy in the historic complex that turned a page days ahead of Republic Day.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti was built after India's victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war as a memorial for Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice and was inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on January 26, 1972.

(Photograph:AFP)

Flame and inverted bayonet

In these five decades, the flame and the inverted bayonet and a soldier's helmet have become as much part of the Indian psyche as the India Gate itself, which has been celebrated in books, films and photographs since its opening 90 years ago.

Designed by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, 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.

(Photograph:AFP)

Memorial to honour soldiers who died in World War-I

The monumental sandstone arch often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, was opened a decade after its foundation was laid by the Duke of Connaught over a century ago on February 10, 1921, according to archival records.

The 42 metre-high All India War Memorial Arch was built to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). 

(Photograph:AFP)

India Gate

The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface. 

Over 80,000 Indian laid their lives in those campaigns and India Gate bears names of 13,516 etched over its surface.

(Photograph:AFP)
;

Soldiers from tri-services marched

The torch bearing the flames from Amar Jawan Jyoti was carried and merged with National War Memorial in a full military tradition.

Soldiers from tri-services marched carrying the flame from India Gate to the war memorial metres away from there. 

Air Marshal Balabhadra Radha Krishna, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), presided over the ceremony.

The officer laid wreath first at Amar Jawan Jyoti and then at War Memorial. He was welcomed by three deputy chiefs in full military tradition.

(Photograph:IANS)

Granite statue of Netaji at India Gate

Ahead of Netaji's 125th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that a grand statue of the iconic freedom fighter will be installed at India Gate as a symbol of India's "indebtedness" to him.

Till the statue, made of granite, is completed, a hologram statue of his would be present at the same place, he said, adding that he will unveil the hologram statue on January 23, the birth anniversary of the Azad Hind Fauj founder.

The dimension of the granite statue will be 28 feet long and six feet wide and added that its installation will be a case of India "reclaiming" its history. 

(Photograph:ANI)

National War Memorial

The National War Memorial was built in memory of soldiers and unsung heroes who have laid down their lives defending the nation since Independence.

It is spread over 40 acres in the India Gate complex behind the canopy and is dedicated to soldiers killed during the Indo-China War in 1962, Indo-Pak wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971, Indian Peace Keeping Force Operations in Sri Lanka and in the Kargil conflict in 1999, and also those in the UN peacekeeping missions.


 

(Photograph:ANI)

Air Marshal BR Krishna merges flames

Air Marshal BR Krishna, chief of integrated defence staff merges Amar Jawan Jyoti with flame of National War Memorial during a ceremony in New Delhi.

(Photograph:ANI)