Raj Ghat

Raj Ghat is the samadhi, or cremation memorial, of Mahatma Gandhi — the most revered of India's national memorials, set on the west bank of the Yamuna behind the Red Fort.

• Gandhi, the 'Father of the Nation', was assassinated on 30 January 1948 and cremated on this spot the next day, and the memorial that grew here is a study in the simplicity he preached: a plain square platform of black marble in a sunken courtyard, inscribed with his reputed last words, 'Hey Ram', with an eternal flame (akhand jyoti) burning quietly at one end.
• Designed by the architect Vanu G.
• Bhuta on the pattern of a sacred mandala and wrapped in manicured lawns and shade trees, the memorial is deliberately unadorned — no dome, no ornament, only a low slab approached by ramps and encircled by green calm.
• Visitors remove their footwear and walk down to pay silent homage; fresh marigolds are usually laid on the marble.
• Visiting heads of state and dignitaries pay their respects here as a matter of protocol, and the site fills with the nation on Gandhi Jayanti (2 October) and Martyrs' Day (30 January).
• The adjacent National Gandhi Museum, with photographs, writings and personal artefacts, and the samadhis of other national leaders nearby, extend the visit into a wider memorial precinct.
• For vegetarian travellers the Daryaganj area just west is rich in pure-veg food — Bhaja Govindam, Zaza Box and Sugandh all serve North and South Indian thalis a short ride away.