Raj Ghat
A black marble platform and an eternal flame on the ground where Gandhi was cremated.
On 31 January 1948, the day after he was shot, Mohandas Gandhi was cremated on the bank of the Yamuna. The memorial that marks the spot is deliberately without architecture: a square of black marble, open to the sky, sunk in a walled enclosure of lawn, with a lamp at one end that is kept burning. The only inscription is the phrase he is said to have spoken as he died.
The restraint is the point, and it survives the ceremonial traffic — visiting heads of state are brought here almost as a matter of routine, and there is a permanent scatter of marigolds. Around the enclosure a series of other memorials to India's leaders has grown up over the decades, along with a Gandhi museum across the road. Shoes come off at the gate, which quiets the whole space more effectively than any sign could.
- 01The samadhiA plain black marble platform, unroofed, with an eternal flame at its head.
- 02Friday prayersMulti-faith devotional readings are held at the memorial each Friday.
- 03The surrounding memorialsShanti Vana, Vijay Ghat and others spread north along the riverbank.
Free; shoes are removed at the outer gate. Early morning is best, before the tour buses arrive.