AMN /
Republic Day celebrations came to a close with the Beating the Retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk in Delhi. President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief of three services and other dignitaries witnessed the musical ceremony.
Beating the Retreat has emerged as an event of national pride when the Colours and Standards are paraded.
As many as 26 performances, mostly composed by Indian musicians thrilled the audience with patriotic fervour.
In today’s event 16 Military Bands, 16 Pipe and Drum Bands from Regimental Centres and Battalions participated in the ceremony.
Indian Navy and Indian Air Force band were also part of the event.
Another band of the State Police and Central Armed Police Forces comprising Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force and Delhi Police also took part.
The Beating the Retreat traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands.
It marks a centuries old military tradition, when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield returning to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat.