A total of 31 captivating and foot-tapping Indian tunes were the flavour of the ‘Beating Retreat’ ceremony held in the national capital on Monday evening to mark the culmination of the 75th Republic Day celebrations.

With the sunset on January 29, the historic Vijay Chowk at Raisina Hills came alive to the ceremonial ‘Beating Retreat’ with music bands of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) playing Indian tunes before a distinguished audience.

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President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, other Union Ministers, senior officials, and the general public were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.

The ceremony commenced with the massed band’s ‘Shankhnaad’ tune followed by enthralling tunes such as ‘Veer Bharat’, ‘Sangam Dur’, ‘Deshon ka Sartaj Bharat’, ‘Bhagirathi’, and ‘Arjuna’ by Pipes and Drums band.

The CAPF bands played ‘Bharat Ke Jawan’ and ‘Vijay Bharat’ among others.

‘Tiger Hill’, ‘Rejoice in Raisina’ and ‘Swadeshi’ were among the tunes that were played by the band of the Indian Air Force, while the audience witnessed the Indian Navy band playing a number of tunes, including ‘INS Vikrant’, ‘Mission Chandrayaan’, ‘Jai Bharati’ and ‘Hum Tayyar Hain’.

This was followed by the Indian Army band which played ‘Faulad Ka Jigar’, ‘Agniveer’, ‘Kargil 1999’, and ‘Taqat Watan’ among others.

The Massed Bands then played the tunes ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon’, and ‘Drummers Call’.

The event came to a close with the ever-popular tune of ‘Sare Jahan se Acha’.

The principal conductor of the ceremony was Lt Col Vimal Joshi. While the Army Band conductor was Subedar Major Moti Lal, MCPO MUS II M Antony and Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar were the Conductors of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force respectively.

The conductor of the CAPF band was Constable GD Ranidevi.

The buglers performed under the leadership of Naib Subedar Umesh Kumar, and the Pipes and Drums band were played under the instructions of Subedar Major Rajender Singh.

‘Beating Retreat’ traces its origin 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, withdrew from the battlefield, and returned to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat. Colours and Standards are cased and flags are lowered. The ceremony creates nostalgia for the times gone by.