Beating Retreat ceremony at Delhi’s Vijay Chowk marked by traditional grandeur

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence General Bipin Rawat and three service chiefs and several other dignitaries are attending the ceremony.

Beating Retreat ceremony, which marks the culmination of four-day-long Republic Day celebrations, began here amidst traditional grandeur at Vijay Chowk.

Marching bands from the armed forces perform during the Beating the Retreat ceremony in New Delhi on January 29, 2020. - The military ceremony is the culmination of the four-day long Republic Day celebrations and dates back to the days when troops disengaged themselves from battle at sunset. (AFP)

Personnel of bands of three wings of armed forces displayed synchronised march to the tunes played.

Watch: Beating retreat ceremony at Attari-Wagah border on Republic Day

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence General Bipin Rawat and three service chiefs and several other dignitaries are attending 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.

‘Beating the Retreat’ 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.

Colours and Standards are cased and flags lowered. The ceremony creates nostalgia of the times gone by.