What is ‘Beating Retreat’ ceremony?

• The 77th Republic Day Celebrations came to a close with the ‘Beating Retreat’ ceremony held at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on January 29. 

• President Droupadi Murmu who arrived at the venue in a traditional buggy to the sound of bugles.

What is Beating Retreat ceremony?

• ‘Beating Retreat’ is a centuries old military tradition. It dates back to the days when troops disengaged from battle at sunset. As soon as the buglers sounded the ‘retreat’, the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield.

• The ceremony at the Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on January 29 every year marks the culmination of the four-day-long Republic Day celebrations. 

• The ceremony 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. 

• The chief guest of the function is the President of India who arrives in a cavalry unit escorted by President’s Bodyguard (PBG) personnel. 

• The President’s Bodyguard (PBG), raised in 1773, is the senior most regiment of the Indian Army. It is a regiment carrying out ceremonial duties for the President of India. The PBG personnel are excellent horsemen, capable tank men and paratroopers.

• Military bands, pipes and drums bands, buglers and trumpeters from various Army regiments perform during the ceremony. Besides, there are bands from the Navy and Air Force.

Highlights of this year’s ceremony:

• Bands of the Indian Air Force, Navy, Army and the paramilitary forces played an array of foot-tapping melodies, including ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, ‘Vijay Bharat’, ‘Brave Warrior’, ‘Jhelum’, ‘Jai Ho’, ‘Veer Seepahi’, as well as ‘Vande Mataram’, marking 150 years of the National Song.

• Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the three service chiefs attended the ceremony.

• Members of many bands, while belting out lilting tunes, also stood in various formations, representing key events and milestones of the country. 

• The formations included Gaganyaan (spaceflight mission), Operation Sindoor, the tri-services’ logo, and coat of arms of the newly-raised Bhairav Battalion, which made its Republic Day parade debut this year.

• They also symbolically hailed the Indian women’s cricket team’s victory in the ICC ODI World Cup in 2025.

• This year, the seating enclosures for the ceremony were named after Indian instruments —  Bansuri, Damaru, Ektara, Esraj, Mridangam, Nagada, Pakhawaj, Santoor, Sarangi, Sarinda, Sarod, Shehnai, Sitar, Surbahar, Tabla and Veena.

• The ceremony closed with a rendition of ‘Sare Jehan Se Achha’.