The history of the Grand Canopy at India Gate — and all about the statue of Netaji Bose that was unveiled there

The history of the Grand Canopy at India Gate — and all about the statue of Netaji Bose that was unveiled there

Subject: History

Section: Art and Culture

• A statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at India Gate on Thursday (September 8) evening. The jet black granite statue was placed under the Grand Canopy to the east of India gate, halfway on the east-west axis to the National War Memorial.

How big is this statue?

• The statue of Netaji which is 28 feet tall stands at the same place where his hologram statue was unveiled earlier this year by the Prime Minister on Parakram Diwas, January 23 — Netaji’s 125th birth anniversary. On January 21, Modi had said that a grand granite statue of Netaji would be installed at India Gate as a mark of the grateful nation’s indebtedness to him.

What is the significance of the India Gate Canopy?

• About 150 m to the east of India Gate, at a centre of the C-hexagon, stands the 73-foot canopy, inspired by a sixth-century pavilion from Mahabalipuram. The canopy, designed by Edwin Lutyens, was added to the India Gate complex in 1936 as a tribute to the then recently deceased Emperor of India, King George V, and housed his 50-foot marble statue.
• Coronation Park was the venue of the Delhi Durbar of 1877 at which Queen Victoria was proclaimed as the Empress of India in addition to her existing title of Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, as also of the two subsequent Delhi Durbars of 1903 — to mark the accession of King Edward VII, the father and predecessor of George V — and 1911, when George V was proclaimed Emperor of India. The 1911 Durbar was the only one that was attended by the Emperor himself.

What will happen at the ceremony?

• The Prime Minister’s arrival at the canopy for the unveiling of the statue of Netaji will be heralded with traditional Manipuri ShankhVadayam and Kerala’s traditional PanchVadyam and Chanda. The unveiling of the statue will be accompanied by the tune of Kadam KadamBadhaye Jaa, the song of Netaji’s Indian National Army, which was first formed by Rash Behari Bose in 1942 and revived by Subhas in 1943, with regiments named after Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad, and himself, and a women’s regiment named after Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi.
• A cultural festival by 500 dancers drawn from all parts of the country would be showcased on Kartavya Path, the erstwhile Rajpath. Glimpses of the same would be shown to the Prime Minister on the step amphitheatre near India Gate by 30 artistes who will perform tribal folk art forms such as Sambalpuri, Panthi, Kalbelia, Kargam and dummy horse with live music by Nashik dholpathiktasha and the drums.
• Mangalgaan penned by Pt. Shri Krishna Ratanjankarji on the occasion of the first Independence Day in 1947 will be presented by Pt. Suhas Vashi along with a team of singers and musicians.

Sambalpuri

• Sambalpur, in Orissa, India, is a region that has a distinct cultural identity. The songs, clothing, dances, language and festivals celebrated in Sambalpur are unique.
• The grand festival of “Lok Mahotsav” is a Folk and Tribal Arts and Culture Festival
• Nuakhai – This is the most important social festival of Sambalpur. It is a paddy harvest festival.
• Dalkhai Dance – It is a ritual folk dance. Songs sung on this occasion are known as Dalkhai songs. Young girls from Binjhal, Soura and Mirdha tribes perform this dance during Dusshera, Bhaijuntia and other festive occasions.

Panthi

• Panthi dance is one of the important dance forms of Chhattisgarh State of India. This Indian folk dance is basically a prominent ritual of the Satnami community of Chhattisgarh.

Kalbelia

• Kalbeliya dances are an expression of the Kalbelia community’s traditional way of life.It is associated with a Rajasthani tribe of the same name.
• It was included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in 2010.
• Women in flowing black skirts dance and swirl, replicating the movements of a serpent, while men accompany them on the “khanjari” instrument and the “poongi”, a woodwind instrument traditionally played to capture snakes.
• Another unique aspect of the Kalbelia dance is that it is only performed by women while the men play the instruments and provide the music.

Kargam

• Karagam is a folk dance from Tamil Nadu, India. In this dance a pitcher is used as a ritual object and the dance is accompanied by a procession. The dance has interesting elements of acrobatics. The orchestra that accompanies the dance is called NiyandiMelam.