Rajpath (Kingsway) is a vast parade linking India Gate to the offices of the Indian government. Built on an imperial scale between 1914 and 1931, it was designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker and underlined the ascendance of the British rulers. Yet just 16 years later, the Brits were out on their ear and Indian politicians were pacing the corridors of power.
At the western end of Rajpath the official residence of the president of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, now partially open to the public via guided tour, is flanked by the mirror-image, dome-crowned North Secretariat and South Secretariat. These house government ministries and are not open to the public. The Indian parliament meets nearby at the Sansad Bhavan, a circular, colonnaded edifice at the end of Sansad Marg, also not open to the public.
At Rajpath’s eastern end is mighty India Gate. This 42m-high stone memorial arch, designed by Lutyens, pays tribute to around 90,000 Indian Army soldiers who died in WWI, the Northwest Frontier operations and the 1919 Anglo-Afghan War.
