The Chattri

The Chattri is a First World War memorial near Patcham (part of the city of Brighton and Hove) on the south coast of England. It was built in 1921 in memory of 74 Indian soldiers who died in military hospitals in Brighton, and in particular of 53 Hindus and Sikhs who were cremated on the site. More than a million Indians fought in the British Indian Army during the First World War (1914–1918), of whom 140,000 served in Europe. Over 4,000 were treated in makeshift hospitals in Brighton between December 1914 and February 1916 and the Hindus and Sikhs who died there were cremated at a remote hilltop location. A proposal for a memorial on the cremation site was advanced by the mayor of Brighton and funding was agreed between the local council and the British government.

The monument was designed by Elias Cosmas Henriques, overseen by Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, and takes the form of a chattri or chhatri ("umbrella" in several Indian languages), an elevated dome-shaped pavilion. The dome is in white marble and stands on a grey stone terrace, which covers the ghats (funeral pyres) used for the cremations. The unveiling ceremony took place on 1 February 1921, presided over by Edward, Prince of Wales. The monument was subsequently allowed to fall into disrepair and was damaged by target practice in the Second World War. The Royal British Legion organised a pilgrimage to the Chattri in 1932 and then annually from 1951 to 1999, when the ceremony was taken over by the local Sikh community.

Throughout its life, academics have studied the Chattri. Several have suggested that its purpose was to promote Indian unity within the British Empire, and show that Indian troops were well treated. At least one suggested that its neglect after the unveiling ceremony was evidence of the British government's insincerity, but that it had been repurposed by the local community. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission unveiled a separate memorial on the same site in 2010, listing the names of the dead. The Chattri is a Grade II listed building.

The United Kingdom entered the First World War in August 1914 and began deploying troops to France and Belgium. At the time, India was part of the British Empire and the Indian Army was under British command. The British government quickly decided to deploy Indian soldiers to the Western Front, despite the fact that the Indian Army had never previously been deployed outside of South Asia. The deployment was intended to alleviate manpower shortages and simultaneously curb rising Indian nationalism by instilling imperial pride. The first Indian troops were dispatched in late August 1914, and arrived in France in October.^[1][2]

Soldiers wounded on the battlefield were initially treated in field hospitals. Those only lightly wounded were usually quickly returned to the front but many of those requiring further treatment were evacuated to England. Brighton, being a resort town on the south coast and close to major ports, was well-positioned to accommodate the evacuees.^[3][4] Three temporary hospitals were established in the town—one in the workhouse, one in the Grammar School, and one in the Royal Pavilion complex, a former royal palace known for its Oriental-style architecture. In December 1914, 345 injured soldiers were transported to Brighton by train and were transferred to the hospitals. Careful arrangements were made to provide for the different dietary and religious requirements of the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. The wounded Indians became something of a tourist attraction and among dignitaries who visited the pavilion during their stay were Lord Kitchener, King George V, and Queen Mary.^[3][5][6]

Over the course of the war, more than a million Indians fought for the British Empire, of whom 140,000 saw service in France and Belgium.^[7] Over 4,300 Indian soldiers were treated in hospitals in Brighton, of whom 74 died of their wounds. The British authorities considered it of great importance that the dead received the appropriate funeral rites for their religion. The 21 Muslim men who died were taken to the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, Surrey, and buried in a purpose-built cemetery. The bodies of the 53 Hindus and Sikhs were taken to a remote location near Patcham, high in the South Downs hills, where a ghat (open-air funeral pyre) was built and the bodies were cremated. There was some debate as to whether open-air cremation was legal in the UK under the Cremation Act 1902, so government sanction was required to allow these funerals to take place.^[8][9][10] Photographs of the deceased were taken, which were sent to their relatives in India along with a portion of their ashes. The remainder of the ashes were scattered in the sea. The Brighton hospitals ceased to accommodate Indian soldiers in February 1916 and the facilities were converted for British amputees.^[11][12][13] The reason the Patcham site was chosen is unknown.^[12]

In August 1915, soon after the final cremations, Lieutenant Das Gupta of the Indian Medical Service approached the Mayor of Brighton, Sir John Otter, with a proposal for a memorial on the site of the ghat. After leaving office, Otter chaired Brighton's Indian Memorials Committee and became the driving force behind the project. He proposed two memorials—one on the site of the ghat, and another in Brighton town centre.^[14][15] The latter became the Indian Memorial Gate, a monumental entrance to the Royal Pavilion complex built in a similar style to the Chattri.^{[16][17][18][19]} The site of the ghat and the surrounding land were owned by the Marquess of Abergavenny, who donated it to the Borough of Brighton in 1916. Otter shared his proposal with the India Office (the British government department responsible for administering India), which agreed to share the cost of the Chattri.^[14][20][21]

Otter approached the retired architect Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob to work on the memorial project. Jacob had worked extensively in India and was widely associated with the Indo-Saracenic architectural style and, in particular, was known for his use of chhatri, elevated domes supported on pillars.^[21] The word "chhatri" or "chattri" means "umbrella" in multiple Indic languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu.^[12][22] Jacob, 75 years old, declined the commission on the grounds of age but recommended Elias Cosmas Henriques. Henriques was a junior architect from Bombay, working for the Indian government, who was studying in England. Jacob acted as supervising architect.^[21][23][24] Henriques waived his fee and accepted only reimbursement of expenses.^[20]

Funds were raised and Henriques completed his design by 1917. The memorial was to be made of Sicilian marble, but the stone could not be extracted during the war.^[25][26] Construction work started in August 1920 and continued until the end of that year. A cottage was provided nearby for a caretaker. This added £1,117 (£43,200 in 2025)^[27] to the final cost of £4,964 (£191,800 in 2025)^[27][28]

The Chattri was built at the exact location where the funeral pyres were constructed for the cremation of the 53 soldiers. It is in an isolated position on the South Downs north of Brighton, 500 feet (150 m) above sea level and offering views of the town, the surrounding area, and the sea. It is roughly a mile and a quarter north-northeast (two kilometres) of All Saints Church, Patcham. The only access to the memorial is from a path off a bridleway from the A27 Brighton Bypass at Patcham.^[19][20][29]

The main part of the monument is a dome (chattri) in white Sicilian marble in the style of Mughal architecture.^[20][23][29] The Chattri is roughly the shape of an umbrella. It is a domed pavilion rising to 30 feet (9.1 m) to the finial at its apex.^[20] The dome is supported by eight columns, which start with square bases before becoming octagonal halfway up. The columns terminate in decorative capitals and each has four brackets projecting from it. The dome has wide eaves, which overhang the columns. It sits on a plinth (or terrace) of grey stone which itself stands on three blocks of granite covering the slabs used during the cremations. The plinth is square and stepped down four times on the eastern side. A flight of steps provides access to the pavilion.^[23] The plinth bears an inscription in English, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu, the text of which was prepared by Sir John Otter:^[28]

To the memory of all Indian soldiers who gave their lives for the King-Emperor in the Great War, this monument, erected on the site of the funeral pyre where Hindus and Sikhs who died in hospital at Brighton passed through the fire, is in grateful admiration and brotherly love dedicated.^[20][23][26]

The monument covers an area of 40 by 60 feet (12 by 18 metres) and is set within two acres (0.8 hectares) of landscaped garden.^[20]

Otter initially approached the Duke of Connaught (a member of the royal family and army officer who had served in India), but the duke was due to be out of the country on the proposed date. The unveiling ceremony was held on 1 February 1921 and Edward, Prince of Wales, presided.^[20][26] Prior to the ceremony, the Chattri was draped in the flag of the British Raj.^[30] The events began with a 21-gun salute, after which the prince and Otter each gave an address. The prince paid tribute to "our Indian comrades came when our need was highest, free men and voluntary soldiers who were true to their salt", and Otter hoped that the memorial would "strengthen ties between India and [the UK]".^[26] A film crew and multiple press photographers were in attendance.^[26]

According to the art historian Tim Barringer, the intended audience was India—although nationalist tensions had been set aside during the war, they were gaining momentum again by 1921. During the war, the British authorities had been keen to show that Indian soldiers were being treated properly.^[26] This extended to the correct funerary rites, the exception to the law to allow the open-air pyre, and to the construction of the Chattri.^[8][30] Lakhbir Jassal described the rituals as "imperial paternalism".^[8] Susan Ashley, an academic specialising in cultural heritage, argued that the later abandonment of the Chattri by the British government proved that the intent behind its construction was imperialistic and constituted a "symbolic performance", but that its later adoption by the community gave it a new purpose.^[31]

Responsibility for the maintenance of the Chattri fell to the Borough of Brighton but the memorial was neglected in the years after the unveiling and was allowed to fall into disrepair. By the 1930s, the caretaker had died; no replacement was appointed and the cottage was demolished. The Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC) and the India Office prompted the Borough Corporation into action in 1924, but complaints about the condition of the site continued. In 1939, the IWGC drew up a maintenance plan, which included abandoning 2 acres (0.81 ha) of surrounding land to focus on the monument itself. This was agreed, though the corporation was reluctant to pay for the restoration works and postponed them to 1942. By then, the Second World War was underway and the land had been requisitioned for military use so repairs were delayed further. The area was used for rifle practice and by the end of the war the Chattri was peppered with bullet holes. The military agreed to cover the cost of repair and restoration works when it relinquished the land in 1946.^[20][28]

The Royal British Legion (RBL) organised a pilgrimage to the Chattri on 18 September 1932, the first major event since the unveiling in 1921. The service included local dignitaries and military veterans, as well as Sir Bhupendra Nath Mitra, the Indian high commissioner. The RBL resurrected the event in 1951 and it was held annually until 1999 when the Legion decided it was unable to continue organising the event, citing the age of its members and the difficulty of reaching the site.^[15][22] In the same year, Professor Tony Kushner observed that the Indian soldiers receive little coverage in the modern cultural history of Brighton, and that "the Chattri [...] is now rather neglected, unpublicized and inaccessible to the many tourists the town attracts".^[32] The Indian community in Brighton and the wider UK were outraged by the decision to abandon the ceremony, some accusing the RBL of racism and of deliberately not consulting them before the decision.^[22][33] A local Sikh teacher took on the responsibility, and a public ceremony has been held annually since 2000 on the third Sunday in June. The event is supported by local Hindu and Sikh community groups, the armed forces, and veterans' associations.^[20][28][34] The 2000 ceremony was sparsely attended but the event grew in popularity from the following year.^[22] Since the change of leadership, the ceremony has shifted from largely Christian themes and British military traditions into a hybrid which also includes Sikh prayers, the reading of Indian poems, and speeches from Indian ex-service personnel.^[35] In 2016, Ashley suggested that, as a result, "the emphasis was re-placed on the men who were cremated on this spot".^[22]

In September 2010, the IWGC (by then renamed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) built a separate memorial next to the Chattri, as part of a project to highlight the role of Indian soldiers in the world wars, which it believed was often overlooked. This memorial is a stone wall engraved with the names of the Hindu and Sikh dead and the dedication "In honour of those soldiers of the Indian Army whose mortal remains were committed to fire".^[36][37][38] Previously, the names were split between the Hollybrook Memorial in Southampton and the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial, the main Indian Army memorial in France, close to where several of the casualties fought.^[38][39]

The Chattri has been a Grade II listed building since August 1971. Listed building status provides legal protection from unauthorised demolition or modification.^[23] The surrounding land is owned by Brighton and Hove City Council. The land was designated a "centenary field" in 2017, part of a project by the charity Fields in Trust and the Royal British Legion to conserve public spaces connected to the First World War.^[40][41][42]

• Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: C–D
• List of public art in Brighton and Hove

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• Collis, Rose (2010). The New Encyclopaedia of Brighton (Revised and updated ed.). Brighton: Brighton & Hove City Libraries. ISBN 9780956466402.
• Das, Santanu (2018). India, Empire, and First World War Culture: Writings, Images, and Songs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107081581.
• Kendall, Paul (2016). The Battle of Neuve Chapelle: Britain's Forgotten Offensive of 1915. Havertown: Frontline Books. ISBN 9781473847194.
• Newman, Kevin (2016). Brighton & Hove in 50 Buildings (print ed.). Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 9781445655147.
• Singh, Ranveer (2026), "Memorialising Sikh and Punjab History in the Public Realm" in Dhanda, Meena; Singh, Pritam, eds. (2026). Routledge Handbook of Punjab Studies (ebook ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9781040696484.

• Ashley, Susan L.T. (January 2016). "Re-colonizing spaces of memorializing: The case of the Chattri Indian Memorial, UK". Organization. 23 (1): 29–46. doi:10.1177/1350508415605101.
• Ashley, Susan L. T. (8 August 2016). "Acts of heritage, acts of value: memorialising at the Chattri Indian Memorial, UK". International Journal of Heritage Studies. 22 (7): 554–567. doi:10.1080/13527258.2016.1167107.
• Barringer, Tim (June 2022). "Ambiguities of Imperial mourning: the Patcham Chattri". Art History. 45 (3): 570–597. doi:10.1111/1467-8365.12651.
• Donovan, Tom (Summer 2009). "The Chattri". Durbar: Journal of the Indian Military Historical Society. 26 (2): 53–65. (Also published on the Chattri Memorial Group website)
• Hyson, Samuel; Lester, Alan (January 2012). "'British India on trial': Brighton Military Hospitals and the politics of empire in World War I". Journal of Historical Geography. 38 (1): 18–34. doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2011.09.002.
• Jassal, Lakhbir K. (July 2015). "The Race to Death: The Production of Ritual Expertise in Brighton for Matter Out of Place". Human Geography. 8 (2): 55–71. doi:10.1177/194277861500800204.
• Kushner, Anthony (October 1999). "Selling Racism: History, Heritage, Gender and the (Re)production of Prejudice". Patterns of Prejudice. 33 (4): 67–86. doi:10.1080/003132299128810704. PMID 22043543.
• Robinson, Catherine (2015). "Indian soldiers on the Western Front: the role of religion in the Indian army in the Great War" (PDF). Religions of South Asia. 9 (1): 43–63. doi:10.1558/rosa.v9i1.23964.