The National War Memorial is a monument built near India Gate, New Delhi by the Government of India, to honour its armed forces. The wall surrounding the memorial have the names of the martyrs killed in wars in 1947 – 48, 1961 (Goa), 1962 (China), 1965, 1971, 1987 (Siachen), 1987-88 (Sri Lanka), 1999 (Kargil) and other operations.
To build the Memorial, a global design competition was conducted and the winner was We Be Design Lab, a chemical based architectural firm whose chief architect was Ar. Yogesh Chandrahasan. The memorial was built with the thought that it is a place to pay homage to the great martyrs who had bravely laid down their lives for their motherland.
The idia of a war memorial was first conceptualized in 1960 by the Armed Forces, with the passage of time and rolling over of many parties at the Centre, on 7th October 2015, Cabinet passed the proposal to build the memorial with a budget of Rs.100 Crore. The construction was completed on 1st January,2019, costing 176 Crore and finally on 25th February,2019 the National War Memorial was inaugurated by our Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.
The Eternal flame was lighted by the Prime Minister positioned at the bottom of the stone made obelisk to pay homage to the Soldiers. The event was attended by defense Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Chief of the Air Force, Army and Navy. Honorable Prime Minister Modi ji had earlier expressed his thought by saying that the memorial should be treated as a holy place. The memorial is the symbol of nation’s gratitude to the brave solders. He also praised the Indian army and said that “They are the strongest in the world. They have always risen to every challenge in front of the nation and responded with their full strength”.
There are 4 chakras surrounding the War Memorial, comprising of 16 walls made of granite. They are named as ‘Amar Chakra’, ‘Veerta Chakra’, ‘Tyag Chakra’and the ‘Rakshak Chakra’. The names, ranks and regiments of 25942 war heroes are etched on them.