Raj Ghat

Raj Ghat is a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. It is a black marble platform that marks the spot of Gandhi's cremation on 31 January 1948. It is left open to the sky while an eternal flame burns perpetually at one end. It is located on the banks of the river Yamuna in Delhi in India on Ring Road officially known as Mahatma Gandhi Road. A stone footpath flanked by lawns leads to the walled enclosure that houses the memorial. In recent years, it has become customary for foreign dignitaries visiting India to pay their respects to Gandhi at the Raj Ghat by laying flowers or wreaths on the platform. As a sign of respect, visitors are required to remove footwear before approaching the memorial. A commemorative ceremony is held every Friday. Prayer sessions are held at the Raj Ghat on Gandhi's birth and death anniversaries.

He mortal remains of Mahatma Gandhi were cremated on this spot on the west bank of the river Yamuna on the evening of January 31, 1948. A simple open platform inscribed with the Mahatma's last words, 'Hey Ram' (Oh God) is set in a garden with fountains and a variety of exotic trees.Raj Ghat has a simple memorial to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, marking the spot where he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in 1948. A commemorative ceremony is held here every Friday, the day he was assassinated. Two museums dedicated to the Mahatma are close by. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru, was also cremated to the north of the memorial at Shanti Van(Forest of Peace). The area is now a beautiful park labelled with trees. The Zinat-ul Masjid (Most Beautiful of Mosques) towers over the Raj Ghat. It has become an essential point of call for all visiting dignitaries.

Gandhiji was in harmony with the elements of nature. The structure of the Samadhi reflects his ceramic simplicity. The brick platform on which his body had been burned, a black marble platform of the same size - some twelve feet by twelve feet square, and two feet deep, surrounded by a while marble fence - was erected and the shores were landscaped. Around the cenotaph were built earthworks to protect it from the flooding Yamuna, and these high protective walls have the effect of transforming an open space into an enclosed garden. The walls are so broad that a carriage could drive around them. Trees were planted in the enclosure, and little square plots of white pebble stones were added for decoration. Usually the black marble cenotaph is heaped with flowers, and the marble is polished so brilliantly that it reflected the passing clouds.