On a sunny evening, under a clear blue sky, 1,000 bandsmen of the Indian armed forces brought music alive.
Beating Retreat ceremony brings the curtain down on the four-day Republic Day celebrations.
This year’s ceremony consisted of 20 of the 23 tunes by Indian composers.
Fifteen military bands and 18 pipes and drums bands from regimental centres and battalions participated in the ceremony.
’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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives to attend the Beating Retreat Ceremony, marking the end of Republic Day Celebrations at the Rajpath.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Parliament House, the North and South Blocks and other official buildings in and around Raisina Hill have been splendidly lit up on the eve of the occasion.
15 Indian Army brass and 18 pipes and drums bands, as also one each from the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, participated in the ceremony.
Illumination during the Beating Retreat Ceremony, marking the end of the Republic Day Celebrations.
Originally the ceremony was known as watch setting and was initiated at sunset by the firing of a single round from the evening gun