Sanjha Morcha

NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL TO OPEN TODAY Spread over 40 acres, located right behind India Gate

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New Delhi, February 24

The country will get its first National War Memorial, the first such monument at the national level, on Monday.

India Gate was built by the British in 1914 as a mark of respect to the soldiers lost in various wars. In 1972, the eternal flame or ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ was added to mark victory in the 1971 war.

The war memorial comprises graphic panels and stone murals. Above all, busts of the 21 awardees of Param Vir Chakra have been installed. It has a layout with four concentric circles — ‘Amar Chakra’ or Circle of Immortality, ‘Veerta Chakra’ or Circle of Bravery, ‘Tyag Chakra’ or Circle of Sacrifice, and ‘Rakshak Chakra’ or Circle of Protection.

The memorial complex includes a central obelisk, an eternal flame and six murals depicting famous battles fought by the Army, IAF and Navy in a covered gallery (Veerta Chakra). Likewise, 16 walls have been constructed in Tyag Chakra for paying homage to the 25,942 battle casualties. The names of soldiers have been inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets arranged in a circular pattern which symbolises the ancient Indian war formation ‘Chakravyuh’.

The outermost circle — Rakshak Chakra — comprises rows of more than 600 dense trees, with each tree representing many soldiers who guard the territorial integrity of the nation. — T

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurates the National War Memorial in New Delhi on Monday

ARVIND YADAV/HT■ A statue of a soldier stands tall at the National War Memorial near India Gate in New Delhi.

■ He will dedicate the memorial to the nation built in memory of soldiers killed in action since Independence, including those who died 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

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■ The war memorial boasts of four thematic concentric circles with a tall ceremonial obelisk at its centre that will bear the eternal flame

■ At the memorial, there will be a wreath-laying retreat ceremony held every evening where people can join in

■ The names of 25,942 battle casualties have been inscribed across 16 walls at the national memorial