Raj Ghat is a memorial complex in New Delhi, though part of Central Delhi, Delhi, India.
The first memorial there was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, where a black marble platform was raised to mark the location 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 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.
Location Raj Ghat was the name of a location of historic ghat just outside Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) on the west bank of the Yamuna River east of Daryaganj.
List of memorials The first memorial was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and sited 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.
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.
NameTitle/PositionDate of deathMemorial nameImageMahatma GandhiFather of the Nation (India)30 January 1948Raj GhatJawaharlal NehruFirst Prime Minister of India27 May 1964ShantivanLal Bahadur ShastriSecond Prime Minister of India11 January 1966Vijay GhatSanjay GandhiFormer member of parliament23 June 1980Samadhi of Sanjay GandhiIndira GandhiThird Prime Minister of India31 October 1984Shakti SthalJagjivan RamFourth Deputy Prime Minister of India6 July 1986Samta SthalCharan SinghFifth Prime Minister of India29 May 1987Kisan GhatRajiv GandhiSixth Prime Minister of India21 May 1991Vir BhumiLalita ShastriSpouse of Lal Bahadur Shastri13 April 1993Samadhi of Lalita ShastriZail SinghSeventh President of India25 December 1994Ekta SthalShankar Dayal SharmaNinth President of India26 December 1999Karma BhumiDevi LalSixth Deputy Prime Minister of India6 April 2001Sangharsh SthalP. V. Narasimha RaoNinth Prime Minister of India23 December 2004Gyan BhumiK. R. NarayananTenth President of India9 November 2005Uday BhumiChandra ShekharEighth Prime Minister of India8 July 2007Jannayak SthalRamaswamy VenkataramanEighth President of India27 January 2009Ekta SthalInder Kumar GujralTwelfth Prime Minister of India30 November 2012Smriti SthalAtal Bihari VajpayeeTenth Prime Minister of India16 August 2018Sadaiv AtalPranab MukherjeeThirteenth President of India 31 August 2020Rashtriya Smriti
Controversies The hard materials used in the memorial have raised questions about the nature of Gandhian architecture, specifically the stark difference between the architecture of Raj Ghat and a Gandhian low-cost housing architecture.
References
External links
India official tourism website