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| WWI War memorial Gandhi market, Thiruchirapalli,TN.mea.gov.in |
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| WWI War memorial, Trichi . Gandhi market area. trichyonline.in |
If we lead a quiet life and sleep at night comfortably at home, it is because of unselfish courageous soldiers who are always keeping vigil and safeguarding our country. Their sacrifices in the Army, Navy and and Air force are paramount. Mind you, each year somewhere near the Pakistani or Chinese border areas some unknown brave men lay down their precious life for the sake of our country so that the rest of us can lead a comfortable life. It is our duty to respect them and the memorials erected in their honor.
If you are a resident of Trichi (Thiruchirapalli) or elsewhere in the adjacent towns and cities, frankly speaking, how many of you know about the world war memorial erected in honor of those from this area killed in the world war I (WWI)? if you do not know anything about it there is nothing to blame you because there is poor or no publicity about such a memorial in this sprawling city. The war memorial, it is very painful, is a highly encroached area. and it a shame on those who don't respect our army men who died for our country.. The media - both newspapers and TV stations don't give importance to such memorials. I wish they could give one eighth of their publicity to countless historical monuments in the near-by areas as they give to the political and cinema events. Such monuments steeped in history are either in ruins or do not get serious attention from the state Archaeology department. Hundreds of monuments across the country face the same problem of poor upkeep and government apathy.
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| WWI memorial, Trichi. threebestrated.in |
It is quite surprising that about 302 soldiers from Trichinopoly took part in World War I (1914-1918) as a part of British Indian Army and fought side by side with the Europeans outside of India. Among them, 41 died in action in the war. The then government erected a memorial in 1919 in the form of a tall tower with a huge clock in the busy Gandhi market area to honor them. It is a matter of shame and anguish that this war memorial often commonly referred to as "Clock Tower" had been in poor shape for a long time without much maintenance. Incidentally, this market ground bears Mahatma’s footprints. In 1927, Rethinavelu Thevar, a prominent Congress leader and a nationalist during his tenure as the Mayor of Thiruchirapalli invited Gandhiji to inaugurate the expanded market. Subsequently, the market was renamed as Gandhi Market
The areas near the monument in the market area were encroached upon by many shoppers who were supposedly refugees from Burma (Myanmar) and they carried on their business. Despite warning from the city corporation, the encroachers continued to occupy the area without any hesitation. Responding to the persistent request by the furious ex-servicemen and other retired personnel from the Indian Army, the city corporation in February 2013, took a drastic action against them and removed the illegal structures around the memorial.
In the recent past there was a proposal to beautify this memorial along the Rock Fort hillock, Main Guard gate, Purathana park, Teppakulam etc and in June 2019 the proposal was awaiting clearance from the ASI - Archaeological Survey of India which manage them. A sum of about one crore rupees was granted to beautify the war memorial with multiple illumination. 'The project was announced way back in 2018. The public was seriously demanding to clear the encroachers and steel traders who damaged a part of the national war memorial, Further, the ugly shops are affecting the visibility of the memorial.
India's safety is dependent on our daring soldiers who risk their lives and guard our vulnerable and sensitive border areas. Several decades ago the same army men from Trichi during the WWI died in foreign lands fighting for India on the British side. So, it our duty to respect the aspiration of Indian as well as ex-Indian soldiers to keep this memorial in the Gandhi Market area as a symbol of their bravery and sacrifice.
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| Trichi WWI war memorial, color illumination. facebook.com |
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| Trichi WWII war memorial, color illumination. timesofindia.indiatimes.com |
Above image: In November 2019 a trial run of the multi-color illumination with LED flood lights was conducted. The tower is provided with illumination lights on all four sides and the cost was around Rs. one crore. The Civic body has a proposal to raise the height of stainless fence around the tower by 0.5 to 1.5 meter to prevent the entry of unlawful hawkers and unwanted people in this busy vegetable market area. 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
