R-Day festivities end with Beating Retreat

New Delhi : January 29 is the day India performs its Beating Retreat ceremony every year.This ceremony officially denotes the end of Republic Day festivities and is performed after three days from Republic Day. It is a moving ceremony and performed by the bands of the three wings of the military, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. The venue is Raisina Hills and an adjacent square, Vijay Chowk, flanked by the north and south block of the Rashtrapati Bhavan towards the end of Rajpath. This ceremony revives an ancient war custom according to which troops used to stop fighting at sunset. Bugles announcing the sunset would sound in the battlefield. As soon as soldiers heard these bugles they would stand still in the battlefield and war would be stopped for the day.The ceremony opens with a parade by selected contingents of the armed forces set to scintillating performances by the various armed forces bands. The parade climaxes with all the bands playing in unison. As the bands fall silent, a lone trumpeter picks up the moving tune ‘Siki a mole'. After this performance the hymn ‘Abide with me' is played by the Massed Bands. This hymn, said to be Mahatma Gandhi's favourite, is a permanent feature of the ceremony.One by one, the camels and the riders who stand stone-like throughout against the backdrop of the sky, move away from the background.At exactly 6 pm, the buglers sound the retreat and the National Flag is lowered to the National Anthem bringing the Republic Day celebrations to a formal end. The ceremony ends with the lighting up of thousands of bulbs at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and adjoining buildings.