Chennai: The Gujarat CM and prime ministerial aspirant, Narendra Modi, may have criticised the Centre for not building a war memorial for thousands of soldiers who laid down their lives in wars and the fight against terrorists. At the hustings, he was obviously referring to the lack of a national war memorial.
However, Chennai, a model city when it comes to honouring the brave, is rather proud of having one of the best maintained tributes to soldiers from the region who died in several wars in the last 100 years. The War Memorial, or Victory Memorial, dates back more than 100 years and on the centenary of World War-I it may be worth recalling that the memorial pays homage to “all those from the Madras Presidency who died in the service of the nation”.
The memorial also stands as a testament to the valour of those who died in World War-II, the India-China war, the 1971 Indo-Pak war in which Bangladesh was liberated.
The Brits may have built the memorial on Marina beach road back in 1907. Now maintained by the Indian Army, ‘Cupid’s Bow’ as it was first known, is in such spick and span condition as to be the pride of the city. The circular memorial stands at the Y-junction at one end of Kamaraj Salai and signifies the symbolic start of the road that runs along the second longest beach in the world and past it too, abutting Foreshore Estate, past the Quibble Island cemetery and onwards until the sea curves away to the mouth of the Adyar Estuary.
The city is not host just to this splendid War Memorial. The Madras War Cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the government of India, is home to the remains of close to a thousand who lost their lives in World War-II.
Situated in Nungambakkam, the cemetery also serves as the site for the commemoration of Anzac Day (April 25) every year by Australian diplomats resident in the city and visiting New Zealand diplomats to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli during the Great War.
When it comes to honouring valour on battlefield and beyond, Chennai is right there at the top of the list with the best known memorials.
Not only the army top brass but also political leaders and Governors have on occasion graced the War Memorial on the Marina, not to address any political constituency but to sincerely honour the dead. Maybe, there is something in this for the Centre or for Modi to draw inspiration from when it comes to architecting a national war memorial.
