Amar Jawan Jyoti, the eternal flame, will be merged with the flame at National War Memorial

Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate commemorates soldiers who died in the India-Pakistan war of 1971. The flame will now be merged with the one at the National War Memorial in Delhi.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti, the eternal flame that has been burning at India Gate for 50 years in the memory of soldiers who died in the India-Pakistan War of 1971, will be merged with the flame at Delhi’s National War Memorial today.

Government sources refuted reports that Amar Jawan Jyoti was being extinguished.

The National War Memorial, which was inaugurated in 2019, pays tribute to all soldiers who lost their lives in various armed conflicts in Independent India.

“It was an odd thing to see that the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti paid homage to the martyrs of the 1971 and other wars but none of their names are present there,” government sources said.

“The names of all Indian martyrs from all the wars, including 1971 and wars before and after it are housed at the National War Memorial. Hence it is a true shraddhanjali (homage) to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there.”

A ceremony is scheduled to take place on this afternoon to merge the flames.

“A natural thing to do now that the National War Memorial has been established and all ceremonials related to remembrance and honouring soldiers killed in action are being held there,” former army chief Ved Malik tweeted.

A natural thing to do now that the National War Memorial has been established and all ceremonials related to remembrance and honouring soldiers killed in action are being held there. https://t.co/IjgYSnhmvF

— Ved Malik (@Vedmalik1) January 21, 2022

Here are five things to know about Amar Jawan Jyoti, the eternal flame at India Gate:

The Amar Jawan Jyoti was inaugurated by late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1972 as a tribute to martyrs of the 1971 war.

Amar Jawan Jyoti has a marble pedestal and a cenotaph with the words “Amar Jawan” or “Immortal soldier” inscribed on all four sides. On the cenotaph, there rests a rifle with a helmet on top.

The pedestal of Amar Jawan Jyoti is surrounded by four urns. One of the urns hosts the eternal flame.

Soldiers of the Indian Army, Navy and the Air Force guard the Amar Jawan Jyoti day and night.

Every year on Republic Day, the prime minister, president and the defence chiefs laid a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti. But starting 2020, that changed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying tribute to soldiers at the National War Memorial.