Iconic rifle & helmet at India Gate shifted to War Memorial
After the eternal flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti was extinguished and symbolically merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, the other part of the monument—the iconic inverted rifle and helmet—was also shifted from the India Gate to the new war memorial on Friday.
In a ceremony, the “Inverted Rifle and the Helmet,” the symbol of the Fallen Soldiers of 1971 India-Pakistan war, was shifted from India Gate to Param Yodha Sthal at the National War Memorial and installed in the midst of the busts of Param Vir Chakra Awardees.
“With this ceremony, the integration of the Memorial of Fallen Soldiers of 1971 war with the National War Memorial has been completed,” said the defence ministry in a statement.
The ceremony was led by the chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), Air Marshal B.R. Krishna, and attended by Adjutant General Equivalents from the three services.
As part of the ceremony, a final salute was given and CISC offered a wreath at the India Gate.
In January, the eternal flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate was extinguished and symbolically “merged” forever with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial in a solemn ceremony.
The monument, Amar Jawan Jyoti, was formally inaugurated in January 1972 to honour the 3,843 Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
It was symbolised by an inverted L1A1 self-loading rifle with a bayonet and soldier’s helmet on its top with the eternal flames burning beside it.
The National War
Memorial, built to honour Indian soldiers who fell while defending the country after Independence, was dedicated to the nation in February, 2019, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After the inauguration of the National War memorial, all military ceremonial events were shifted to it from the India Gate memorial.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) in January.
The NWM is around 400 metres away from the India Gate.
India Gate was constructed by the British to honour the 83,000 British Indian Army soldiers who died during World War 1 and the third Anglo-Afghan War.
THE CEREMONY was led by the chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), Air Marshal B.R. Krishna, and attended by Adjutant General Equivalents from the three services. As part of the ceremony, a final salute was given and CISC offered a wreath at the India Gate.