With rain drops falling and foot-tapping music playing on the ground, the Beating Retreat ceremony was held on Sunday at Vijay Chowk opposite the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, marking an end to the four-day Republic Day celebrations.
While the audience and performers remained undeterred by the constant rain, a drone show, said to be India’s biggest with 3,500 indigenous drones, and a 3-D anamorphic projection show on the facade of the North and South Blocks had to be cancelled due to bad weather.
The ceremony began with fanfare by buglers and the massed band playing ‘Agniveer’ tune after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Pandey, and the tri-service chiefs welcomed President Droupadi Murmu.
As many as 29 captivating and foot-tapping Indian tunes based on classical ragas were played by the music bands of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the State police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF).
After the Pipes and Drums band played tunes like ‘Kedar Nath’, ‘Queen of Satpura’, and ‘Konkan Sundari’, the CAPF band’s ‘Pyari Bhumi’ and ‘Gangotri’ set the mood of the evening.
The Air Force’s band played ‘Aprajey Arjun’, ‘Charkha’, ‘Vayu Shakti’, ‘Swadeshi’.
Fascinating ‘Ekla Cholo Re’, ‘Hum Taiyyar Hai’, and ‘Jai Bharati’ were played by the band of the Navy with sailors making warship and submarine formations, receiving cheer from the public.
The Army’s band played ‘Shankhnaad’, ‘Sher-e-Jawan’, ‘Bhupal’, ‘Agranee Bharat’, and ‘Young India’, ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, ‘Drummers Call’, and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ and made formations to depict the National War Memorial and Central Vista.
Following the separate performances from the bands of the three Armed Forces, were the massed bands mesmerising the audience with tunes such as ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’ and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’.
The ceremony and the rain both ended with the lowering of the flag and buglers playing ‘Sare Jahan Se Acha’ as per the tradition.
Technological prowess
The drone show, as per the Ministry of Defence, was expected to light up the evening sky over the Raisina Hills, weaving myriad forms of national figures/events through smooth synchronisation. It was to depict the success of the start-up ecosystem, technological prowess of the country’s youth and pave the way for future path-breaking trends.
New Delhi: Drone show during a full dress rehearsal for the Beating Retreat ceremony, in New Delhi, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI
However, an official overlooking the arrangements said the drones were to be flown form a ground inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan but it had gotten completely drenched. “Plus, water could also cause some technical glitches. So, we had to cancel the show,” he said, adding, “It looked beautiful and majestic during the rehearsals.”
According to the Ministry, the Beating Retreat ceremony 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 and returned to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat, it said in a statement.
