Raj Ghat
Memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat
Interactive map of Raj GhatGeneral informationTypeTombLocationRing Road, Shahjahanabad, Delhi, IndiaCoordinates28°38′25.8″N 77°14′57.6″E / 28.640500°N 77.249333°E / 28.640500; 77.249333Groundbreaking1948
Raj Ghat is a memorial complex in Delhi, India. The first memorial was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi where a black marble platform was raised to mark the spot of his cremation on 31 January 1948 and consists of an eternal flame at one end. Located on Delhi's Ring Road, a stone footpath leads to the walled enclosure that houses the memorial. Later the memorial complex was expanded to include memorials for other prominent Indian leaders including Charan Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Chandra Shekhar and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Etymology[edit]Raj Ghat loosely translates to Royal Steps with the word "royal" alluding to the importance of the place and "steps" referencing the climb from the banks of the Yamuna river.[1]
Location[edit]Raj Ghat was the name of a location of historic ghat in Shahjahanabad in Old Delhi on the west bank of the Yamuna River east of Daryaganj.[2]
List of memorials[edit]The first memorial was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi on the spot where his remains were cremated on 31 January 1948. It consists of a black marble platform with an eternal flame at one end. A stone footpath leads to the walled enclosure that houses the memorial. Later the memorial complex was expanded to include several other samadhis for various leaders in the vicinity of Raj Ghat. The landscaping and planting of these memorials were originally performed by Alick Percy-Lancaster, Superintendent of Horticultural operations with the Government of India.[3][4][5][6]
In 2000, the government of India under Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided not to create separate memorials for different leaders as the existing memorials already occupied over 245 acres of prime land in Delhi.[7]
Name Title/Position Date of death Memorial name(Meaning in English) Image Mahatma Gandhi Father of the Nation (India) 30 January 1948 Raj Ghat(Royal Platform)
Jawaharlal Nehru
First Prime Minister of India
27 May 1964
Shantivan(Forest of Peace)
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Second Prime Minister of India
11 January 1966
Vijay Ghat(Victory Platform)
Sanjay Gandhi
Former member of parliament
23 June 1980
Samadhi of Sanjay Gandhi(Tomb of Sanjay Gandhi)
Indira Gandhi
Third Prime Minister of India
31 October 1984
Shakti Sthal(Place of Strength)
Jagjivan Ram
Fourth Deputy Prime Minister of India
6 July 1986
Samta Sthal(Place of Equality)
Charan Singh
Fifth Prime Minister of India
29 May 1987
Kisan Ghat(Farmer Platform)
Rajiv Gandhi
Sixth Prime Minister of India
21 May 1991
Vir Bhumi(Land of Bre)
Lalita Shastri
Spouse of Lal Bahadur Shastri
13 April 1993
Samadhi of Lalita Shastri(Tomb of Lalita Shastri)
Zail Singh
Seventh President of India
25 December 1994
Ekta Sthal(Place of Unity)
Shankar Dayal Sharma
Ninth President of India
26 December 1999
Karma Bhumi(Land of Duty)
Devi Lal
Sixth Deputy Prime Minister of India
6 April 2001
Sangharsh Sthal(Place of Struggle)
P. V. Narasimha Rao
Ninth Prime Minister of India
23 December 2004
Gyan Bhumi(Land of Knowledge)
K. R. Narayanan
Tenth President of India
9 November 2005
Uday Bhumi(Land of Dawn)
Chandra Shekhar
Eighth Prime Minister of India
8 July 2007
Jannayak Sthal(Place of People's Leader)
Ramaswamy Venkataraman
Eighth President of India
27 January 2009
Ekta Sthal(Place of Unity)
Inder Kumar Gujral
Twelfth Prime Minister of India
30 November 2012
Smriti Sthal(Place of Remembrance)
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Tenth Prime Minister of India
16 August 2018
Sadaiv Atal(Firm Forever)
Pranab Mukherjee
Thirteenth President of India
31 August 2020
Rashtriya Smriti (National Memory)
Controversies[edit]
The hard materials used in the memorial had raised a few questions about the nature of Gandhian architecture where there is a stark difference between the architecture of Rajghat and a Gandhian low-cost housing architecture.[8]
P. V. Narasimha Rao was the ninth Prime minister of India. He died on 24 December 2004 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.[9] His family wanted the body cremated at Raj Ghat in Delhi. In 2015, almost ten years after his death, a memorial was finally erected at Gyan Bhumi.[10]
References[edit] ^ Maddipati, Venugopal (January 2017). "When Landscape Became King: A Short Note on the Ascendancy of the Immediate Present as the Sovereign of Rajghat". LA Journal of Landscape Architecture, India. Retrieved 27 January 2020. ^ H.C. Fanshawe (1998). Delhi, past and present. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-1318-X. ^ "No space for 'samadhis', VVIPs to share memorial place in Delhi". Rediff.com. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013. ^ "'Rajiv' to bloom at Veer Bhumi". The Tribune Trust. 18 August 2004. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2008. ^ "Tearful farewell to S.D. Sharma". The Tribune. The Tribune Trust. 28 December 1999. Retrieved 21 December 2008. ^ "Former PM Chandrashekhar's samadhi to be called Jannayak Sthal". The Times of India. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015. ^ "History, significance of Rashtriya Smriti Sthal where Atal Bihari Vajpayee's last rites will be held". Financial Express. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2023. ^ Maddipati, Venugopal (January 2020). "Gandhi and Architecture: A Time for Low-Cost Housing: The Philosophy of Finitude". Gandhi and Architecture: A Time for Low-Cost Housing. doi:10.4324/9780429262517. ISBN 9780429262517. S2CID 225597933. Retrieved 22 August 2020. ^ "Narasimha Rao passes away at the age of 83". The Hindu. 24 December 2004. Archived from the original on 30 December 2004. Retrieved 10 July 2012. ^ "10 years after death, Narasimha Rao gets memorial in Delhi". The Times of India. 30 June 2015. External links[edit]
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