Amar Jawan Jyoti to merge with National War Memorial flame  |  Photo Credit: ANI
New Delhi: The Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate will be extinguished and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial in a ceremony on Friday. The moment will mark a transition in the history of the iconic India Gate memorial, where the eternal Amar Jawan Jyoti flame has been burning since 1971.
“The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate will be extinguished and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial on Friday in a ceremony,” an official told news agency ANI.
According to reports, PM Narendra Modi will be visiting the National War Memorial before the Republic Day parade 2022. January 26, 2022, will thus be the first Republic Day since 1972 when the eternal flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti will not be burning at India Gate.
Established in 1971, and inaugurated by the then prime minister of India Indira Gandhi, the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate commemorates the martyred soldiers of the Indian armed forces.
The Prime Minister, the President of India, the CDS, and the three service chiefs have been visiting the Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate complex on important occasions such as Republic Day, Independence Day, Kargil Vijay Diwas, Armed Forces Flag Day, and Vijay Diwas.
Amar Jawan Jyoti at the National War Memorial
A second flame was installed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the National War Memorial to commemorate the martyrs of post-Independence India. The flame was ignited by Prime Minister Modi on February 25, 2019, in presence of the Chief of Defence Staff and the three chiefs of the armed forces.
The eternal flame at the National War Memorial, which will continue to burn in memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice for the nation, is located at the heart of the Smarak Stambh, the main pillar of the memorial, inside the Amar Chakra.
It may be noted that on December 16, 2021, the Swarnim Vijay Varsh victory flame, which marked 50 years of India’s victory in the 1971 war, was converged with the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at the National War Memorial. Spread over 40 acres, the National War Memorial was built at a cost of Rs 176 crore.
The other three layers, Veerta Chakra, Tyaga Chakra, and Suraksha Chakra pay tributes to the irreplaceable contribution made by the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy and their personnel in the wars/ conflicts fought post Independence.