In order to enable the people to pay their respects, Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, where former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was cremated with full State honours on August 17, has been developed as a Samadhi named as “Sadaiv Atal”. The Samadhi will be dedicated to the nation on December 25, on the occasion of his 94th birthday anniversary. The Samadhi is spread on a 1.5-acre of land.
With the construction of Sadaiv Atal, the BJP in a way would get its own ‘Rajghat’. The memorials of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have been the iconic rallying points for the Congress.
The BJP has had no such place to converge in the capital. In Vajpayee’s final resting place, the BJP would get the first samadhi at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal for any of its leaders.
The Samadhi has been completed by CPWD at a total cost of Rs. 10.51 Crores without felling of a single tree. The entire cost of construction of the Samadhi has been borne by the Atal Smriti Nyas Society.
Officials of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) said that the central Samadhi platform comprises of nine square black polished granite solid stone blocks, capped with a ‘diya’ in the center. The number nine holds significance and represents the navarasas, navaratras and navagrahas.
“ The placement of the nine square Samadhi is in a circular lotus shaped pattern. The nine-square platform is accessed in four cardinal directions by pathways made in white composite tiles so that the floor does not get heated.
The Samadhi is enclosed by nine bas-relief walls which have inscriptions of the prose/ poetry of Vajpayee which can be read by the visitor while taking a pradakshina on the outer circular path,” officials added.
Interestingly, the government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had decided against conversion of official bungalows in Lutyens Delhi of national leaders into memorials. A Cabinet note in the year 2000 had taken a decision to that effect.
The Modi Cabinet, in October 2014, also decided not to convert the official bungalows into memorials.
The decision was taken weeks after former Union Minister Ajit Singh demanded that his 12, Tuglaq Road bungalow be converted into a memorial in the name of his father and former Prime Minister Choudhary Charan Singh.
Officials said that to construct a Samadhi, a society — “Atal Smriti Nyas Society” (registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860) formed by eminent persons. The founding members of the Society include Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, senior BJP leaders Lalji Tandon, OP Kohli, Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Ram Lal and Ram Bahadur Rai.
In 2013, the UPA Government had decided to develop the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal as the common site for performing last rites of national leaders such as past and incumbent Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Prime Ministers and others.