The India Gate is the national monument of India. Situated in the heart of New Delhi, the India Gate was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It was built in 1931. Originally known as the All India War Memorial, it is a prominent landmark in Delhi and commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the Indian Empire, or more correctly the British Raj, in World War I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. It is composed of red and pale sandstone and granite.
Originally, a statue of George V of the United Kingdom stood under the now vacant canopy in front of the India Gate, but it was removed to Coronation Park together with other statues. Following India's independence, the India Gate became the site of the Indian Army's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, known as Amar Jawan Jyoti ("the flame of the immortal soldier").