Beating the Retreat ceremony, denoting the end of Republic Day celebrations, will be held here tomorrow where 35 bands from the three defence services play various military tunes.
Elaborate security and traffic arrangements have been made for the ceremony which will be held at Vijay Chowk in the evening.
Vijay Chowk will remain closed to traffic between 4 pm and 9:30 pm tomorrow and DTC and other buses which pass through the area will be diverted.
ADVERTISEMENT
A total of 35 bands from Army, Navy and Air Force will perform at the ceremony. Out of these, 20 are military bands while 15 are of pipes and drums. Navy and Air Force will contribute four bands each.
President Pratibha Patil will be the chief guest of the function.
Most of the tunes to be played by Army bands are based on Indian tunes and there are two new compositions - Gajraj and Reshmi - for the first time.
ADVERTISEMENT
Other than ‘Abide With Me’ and ‘Saare Jahan se Accha’, rest of the tunes are being played after a gap of 10 or more years.
This year the ceremony would be conducted by the IAF and Wing Commander Jayachandran will be the Chief Conducting Officer for all the bands.
Beating the Retreat, an adoption of ancient Indian military tradition, is held in the honour of gallant soldiers who return home from the war front.
As many as 32 main retreaters, playing bugles, and six trumpeters will perform on the Rajpath at the Vijay Chowk while a group of 10 retreaters will follow from North Block and South Block. Four retreaters will be deployed on the Vayu Bhavan and Krishi Bhavan.
The roads from all these places lead to Vijay Chowk where the main ‘Flag Down’ ceremony is held.
Traffic will not be allowed on Rafi Marg between roundabouts of Sunehri Masjid and Krishi Bhawan, Raisina Road from Krishi Bhawan roundabout towards Vijay Chowk, beyond roundabouts of Dalhousie Road, Krishna Menon Marg and Sunehri Masjid towards Vijay Chowk and on Rajpath between Vijay Chowk and C—Hexagon of India Gates.
“All these routes will be totally for pedestrians,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg said.
Parking will be available for those coming to see illumination behind the water channels between Rafi Marg and C—Hexagon.