One minute read. Written by a grade 8 student

There was something new this year at the Republic Day – Prime Minister Narendra Modi payed tribute to soldiers at the newly-built National War Memorial instead of Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate. This was a big difference from the past years.

What is the National War Memorial?

The National War Memorial was built near India Gate in New Delhi to pay tribute to Indian the soldiers killed in many wars –which include the Indo-China War in 1962, the Indo-Pak Wars that were fought in 1947, 1965 and 1971, the Kargil war in 1999, and the Indian Peace Keeping Force Operations in Sri Lanka.

The memorial is built over about 40 acres. There are four chakras (circles) – the ‘Amar Chakra’, ‘Veerta Chakra’, ‘Tyag Chakra’ and the ‘Rakshak Chakra’ that have names of 25,942 soldiers inscribed in golden letters on stone made of granite.

So, does the Eternal Flame still burn at India Gate now?

Yes, the eternal flame still burns beneath the India gate, and it is still called the Amar Jawan Jyoti. This honours soldiers killed in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The memorial was constructed in December 1971 and inaugurated in 1972 by our then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The National War memorial honours soldiers killed in many other wars and encounters, not only the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.