Visitors miss iconic Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate

The Amar Jawan Jyoti is conspicuous in its absence at the India Gate, visitors to the war memorial here said, even as many others felt the revamp was long overdue and the eternal flame has only been physically moved.

The revamped stretch of the rechristened Kartavya Path from the Raisina Hill complex to the India Gate and the verdant lawns surrounding them were thrown open to the public on Friday after two years.

The stretch was inaugurated on Thursday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who urged people to visit it and take selfies with it and upload them on social media. The Central Vista redevelopment project was envisioned in September 2019.

Visitors at the monument were seen clicking selfies and pictures with friends and families. While many were busy making Instagram reels, some stood rather motionless in front of the sober buff sandstone arches of the over 90-year-old monument with their gazes transfixed at the empty space beneath it.

“The Amar Jawan Jyoti is conspicuous in its absence at the very spot beneath the India Gate where we all have seen it flickering since our childhood days, physically or on television or in films over the past several decades,” said graphic designer Manish Bhandari from Ghaziabad who visited the monument Friday evening.

“I certainly missed it, it was part of our memories as we grew up. India Gate feels a bit different without its iconic flame,” he told

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