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Amar Jawan Jyoti
Amar Jawan Jyoti (lit. transl. Immortal Soldier Flame, or light) is an Indian memorial conceptualised and constructed after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and inaugurated on 26 January 1972. It was the national war memorial in India until February 2019, when the new National War Memorial and its own flame was inaugurated and lit. On 21 January 2022, the older flame was merged with the newer one at National War Memorial.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate consisted of a base of 15 square feet with a height of 4 feet 3 inches on which there was a black marble pedestal, a cenotaph, 3 feet 2 inches in height. "Amar Jawan" was scripted in gold in Hindi on all four sides of the cenotaph and on top, a reversed rifle capped by a war helmet. The pedestal was bound by four urns. On observances the flames were lit accordingly. It was constructed in a short timeframe as per Prime Minister Indira Gandhi wishes.
A new flame was installed at the National War Memorial to honour all known martyrs of the Indian Armed Forces of independent India. It was completed in February 2019 and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 February with the igniting of the flame. The flame at the center of India Gate was merged with this new one by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Air Marshal Balabhadhra Radha Krishna. Debate ensued with regard to the old and new monuments, related to semantics, history, politicisation and symbolism.
India Gate was designed by Edwin Lutyens and unveiled in 1931. Traffic and parades would pass through the monument. Vehicular movement under the arch was restricted in the 1950s.
Amar Jawan Jyoti was added under India Gate following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The war, which lasted from 3 to 16 December 1971, and ended with the Fall of Dhaka, was part of the liberation war in East Pakistan. On 26 January 1972, the twenty-third Republic Day of India, the monument was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This short timeframe for setting up a memorial to honour those of who fought only the previous month was as per Indira Gandhi's wishes. Author Vedica Kants has written in her 2014 book "India and the First World War" that the location of Amar Jawan Jyoti under the arch of India Gate rewrote the symbolic intention of India Gate.
For many years after Independence, there was no clear cut policy on war memorials. In 1973, the military top brass observed that memorials to commemorate war related events and martyrs were being constructed across the country without any coordination. These memorials were often left untended and were not constructed with much commemorative or architectural thought. There are at least 150 war memorials in the country. However, as the national war memorial construction was delayed, individual structures continued to be built. The construction of a National War Memorial started in 2017 and was inaugurated in 2019. When the National War Memorial was inaugurated in 2019 with a new flame the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff and a Deputy Chief of the Army Staff had said that the old Amar Jyoti Jawan would be retained, however no specifics were given.
Following the ceremony on 21 January 2022, debate ensued related to semantics, legacy, politicisation and symbolism— whether the shifted flame was merged, or extinguished; whether the five decades old memorial was temporary, irrespective of government plans to construct a permanent one; whether there could be two "eternal" flames; and how the location of the old Amar Jyoti Jawan under the Indian Gate was symbolised and its colonial linkages.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti was conceptualised and constructed in less than a month as per Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's wishes, to be made ready for Republic Day on 26 January 1972. The limited timeframe constrained both the location and the scale of the memorial.
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Amar Jawan Jyoti
Amar Jawan Jyoti (lit. transl. Immortal Soldier Flame, or light) is an Indian memorial conceptualised and constructed after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and inaugurated on 26 January 1972. It was the national war memorial in India until February 2019, when the new National War Memorial and its own flame was inaugurated and lit. On 21 January 2022, the older flame was merged with the newer one at National War Memorial.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate consisted of a base of 15 square feet with a height of 4 feet 3 inches on which there was a black marble pedestal, a cenotaph, 3 feet 2 inches in height. "Amar Jawan" was scripted in gold in Hindi on all four sides of the cenotaph and on top, a reversed rifle capped by a war helmet. The pedestal was bound by four urns. On observances the flames were lit accordingly. It was constructed in a short timeframe as per Prime Minister Indira Gandhi wishes.
A new flame was installed at the National War Memorial to honour all known martyrs of the Indian Armed Forces of independent India. It was completed in February 2019 and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 February with the igniting of the flame. The flame at the center of India Gate was merged with this new one by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Air Marshal Balabhadhra Radha Krishna. Debate ensued with regard to the old and new monuments, related to semantics, history, politicisation and symbolism.
India Gate was designed by Edwin Lutyens and unveiled in 1931. Traffic and parades would pass through the monument. Vehicular movement under the arch was restricted in the 1950s.
Amar Jawan Jyoti was added under India Gate following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The war, which lasted from 3 to 16 December 1971, and ended with the Fall of Dhaka, was part of the liberation war in East Pakistan. On 26 January 1972, the twenty-third Republic Day of India, the monument was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This short timeframe for setting up a memorial to honour those of who fought only the previous month was as per Indira Gandhi's wishes. Author Vedica Kants has written in her 2014 book "India and the First World War" that the location of Amar Jawan Jyoti under the arch of India Gate rewrote the symbolic intention of India Gate.
For many years after Independence, there was no clear cut policy on war memorials. In 1973, the military top brass observed that memorials to commemorate war related events and martyrs were being constructed across the country without any coordination. These memorials were often left untended and were not constructed with much commemorative or architectural thought. There are at least 150 war memorials in the country. However, as the national war memorial construction was delayed, individual structures continued to be built. The construction of a National War Memorial started in 2017 and was inaugurated in 2019. When the National War Memorial was inaugurated in 2019 with a new flame the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff and a Deputy Chief of the Army Staff had said that the old Amar Jyoti Jawan would be retained, however no specifics were given.
Following the ceremony on 21 January 2022, debate ensued related to semantics, legacy, politicisation and symbolism— whether the shifted flame was merged, or extinguished; whether the five decades old memorial was temporary, irrespective of government plans to construct a permanent one; whether there could be two "eternal" flames; and how the location of the old Amar Jyoti Jawan under the Indian Gate was symbolised and its colonial linkages.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti was conceptualised and constructed in less than a month as per Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's wishes, to be made ready for Republic Day on 26 January 1972. The limited timeframe constrained both the location and the scale of the memorial.