The memorial will be visible to commuters entering the Capital via NH-1, and is being handled by Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation.

The Rs 22-crore project, spread over 11 acres, was first slated to be completed by October 2008, but was later postponed to December. The project engineers informed Dikshit and Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta who had arrived for inspection on Wednesday that the monument would be completed only by March.

An irate CM instructed the project manager to “put in more effort” and complete the project in time. This is the first of a series of landmark projects slated to be constructed at all entry points of Delhi.

As per the design, the memorial will have 40 plaques on both sides of monoliths arranged in a circular shape and inscribed with teachings of Sikh gurus, sayings of Guru Nanak, the Guru Granth Sahib, details of the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur and a map of the route through which the holy “Sees” of Guru Teg Bahadur was taken from Delhi to Anandpur Sahib.

The memorial will also bear the three golden rules of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru: “hitt karo” (do good), “vand sako” (share) and “naam japo” (remember the Almighty).

It now seems that these inscriptions, which are being engraved in four different languages, are the reason behind the delay in the project. “Most of the monument is ready. However, only two things remain pending at present, which include the inscriptions and steel lotus that are part of each of the 11 pillars,” said Mehta.

By August last year, nearly 70 percent of the work had been completed. The project was initially delayed with the Haryana government refusing to give the required mud for landscaping the area.