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| War memorial, Gandhi market, Tiruchy, TN in.worldorgs.com |
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| War memorial, Gandhi market, Tiruchy, TN in.worldorgs.com |
In the city of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu Gandhi market is a land- mark place popular for whole sale vegetable business. It began as a fort market in 1867-68 when India came under the Crown administration and it extends over 6.5 acres of land in a prime location.. In this busy part of the city, visitors seldom take a look at the war memorial erected there. Way back it was built to honor those brave soldiers from this part who lost their lives in World War one - WWI.
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| War memorial plaque Gandhi market, Tiruchy, TN in.worldorgs.com |
It is quite painful and a shameful thing the war memorial in this area was highly encroached upon by petty shop keepers and hawkers further, because of poor publicity by the tourism department the war memorial, a fine legacy of Indian army's involvement in WWI many residents of this place had no idea about the clock tower and why it was built.
Across India because of lack of interest on the part of TV and newspaper media, many historical monuments are facing similar fat. They are languishing for years without proper periodic repairs and they do not get any attention of the heritage lovers or government agencies. Many monuments are in a shambles beyond redemption due to official apathy and lack of awareness.
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| Clock tower memorial, Gandhi market Tiruchi. trichyonline.in |
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| Clock tower memorial, Gandhi market Tiruchi. youube. |
Records point out that as many as 302 soldiers from Trichinopoly took part in World War I (1914-1918) as part of British Indian Army and fought side by side with the Europeans outside of India. Among them, 41 died in action overseas in the war.
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| War memorial plaque Gandhi market, Tiruchy, TN in.worldorgs.com |
In order to honor their valor, courage and patristic zeal the then government under the colonial rule in 1919 had built a tall tower with a huge clock in the busy Gandhi market area that bears the foot prints of Gandhiji. It was in 1927 a prominent nationalist and leader of the Congress party Rethinavelu Thevar, invited Gandhiji to inaugurate the expanded market during his tenure as the Mayor of Thiruchirapalli. later the area came to be known as Gandhi Market
Fortunately in February 2013, responding to persistent demands from the furious ex-servicemen and other retired personnel from the Indian Army, the city corporation took a drastic action against the over-encroached shop keepers (mostly refugees from Burma) and removed the illegal structures around the clock tower and memorial.
Way back in June 2019 a proposal to beautify his memorial along the Rock Fort hillock, Main Guard gate, Purathana park, Teppakulam etc that come under the management of the ASI is on the anvil
A war memorial in the Gandhi market is a reminder of colonial era and the Indian Army's link with the British army. The clock tower memorial built as a token of our gratitude to the fallen heroes need to be preserved for the posterity without any encroachment all around it. It is the duty of the corporation to keep the war memorial in good shape as it stands a symbol of their bravery and sacrifice for their motherland.
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| war memorial illumination Gandhi market, Tiruchy, TN in.worldorgs.com |
In November 2019 the 4 sided clock tower was color illuminated on a trial basis using LED flood lights and the cost was around Rs. one crore. There was a proposal to increase the height of stainless steel fence all around the memorial to present the unlawful hawkers and others jumping over the fence. This project is part of Smart City Plan as envisaged by the Central Government....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_Memorial_(Tiruchirappalli)
https://milaap.org/stories/the-timeless-gandhi-market-in-tiruchirappally.amp
https://in.worldorgs.com/catalog/tiruchirappalli/tourist-attraction/world-war-i-memorial
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