Situated at the eastern end of Rajpath in Central Delhi is the 42 m high stone
arch of victory, renowned as the India Gate. Formally known as the All
India War Memorial previously, the foundation stone of this magnanimous
structure was laid by the Duke of Connaught in 1921 and dedicated to the
nation in 1931 by the then Viceroy, Lord Irwin.
Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the India Gate stands on a low base of red Bharatpur stone and rises in stages to a huge cornice. Above on both sides is inscribed INDIA, flanked by MCM and to the right, XIX. The names of the 90,000 soldiers of the Indian Army who lost their lives in World War-I, and an additional 13,516 names who sacrificed their lives in the North-West Frontier in the Afghan War of 1919 are inscribed on the walls of this grand construction.