India Gate
When, in 1911, the British decided to move the capital
of the Raj from Calcutta to Delhi, they commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens
to design what came to be known as New Delhi. He rejected the
neo-Gothic-with-Mughal-touches style popular for public buildings
at the time in favor of a more reserved classical style befitting his
plan for a city of wide tree-lined boulevards.
Lutyens central boulevard, the two-mile long Rajpath, had the
Viceroy’s mansion, now the official residence of the President
of India, and administrative buildings at one end and India Gate at the
other. India Gate honors Indian soldiers who fought for the British
and died in the Third Afghan and First World Wars. Since independence
it has been known as the All India War Memorial and an eternal flame
has been added at the base of the monument to honor those killed in the
1971 India-Pakistan War. The canopy in the background used to hold a
statue of King George V.
Photo taken: February 7, 2008
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