The Roll of Honour is the very heart of the memorial. The 4.5 meters wide semi covered walkways on either side of the central axis of the memorial house the Roll of Honour related to five wars. The names are etched on the inner walls of this collonaded space on a Polished Brown Alagada stone. The vertical panels use this stone in three textures, the upper and lower bands in variable bush hammered finish and the central band in a glossy finish that highlights the names etched on it.
The main galleries along the axis are demarcated for the five main wars. Further names are accommodated in the cross galleries that run perpendicular to the main axis and meet at the Ashoka Chowk, these are the North and South galleries. The cross-galleries are lit by skylights from the podium above and terminate in an intimate wooded open to sky court. The North gallery houses the names of the soldiers who fell in Siachen and the also in International peacekeeping missions. The names in this gallery are etched in pristine white marble. The South gallery is dedicated to that feel while engaged in Internal Security Operations and Border Management. These names are etched on metal plates and could be backlit.
The galleries start with a mural of the first ‘Fallen soldier’ of independent India. A detail on the panel with a hole near each name enables flowers or flags to be embedded against each name or a wreath/ memorabilia placed at the bottom of the panels by visiting family members of the fallen. The monotony of the galleries is broken with murals, poems and historical notes interspersed, making the experience of the Roll of honour engaging also giving ‘Peace’ its rightful place.
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- Second Prize winning entry for National War Memorial - Stage 2 by PSP Design. Chennai: PSP Design, 2017.