Armed Forces' bands enchant at Beating Retreat ceremony

Hundreds of people - from the country's top political leadership to bureaucrats, defence officials, diplomats and common folk - sat captivated as 35 bands from the Armed Forces produced poignant and lilting music at Vijay Chowk this evening to bring the curtain down on the Republic Day celebrations.

The Band performing at the Beating Retreat Ceremony, in New Delhi on January 29, 2010.

The bands from the Army, Navy and Air Force, with men on foot and horseback, marched down Raisina Hill in the fading light, with Rashtrapati Bhavan and the North and South Blocks for a backdrop, for the Beating Retreat ceremony - a tradition that dates back to ancient times when wars were fought with time-honoured traditions.

The end of battle for the day was marked by Beating Retreat by both sides. As soon as the buglers sounded "retreat", the troops stopped fighting, sheathed their arms, paid homage to those who had died in battle and withdrew from the battle field.

The homage was paid by standing still. At Retreat, Colours and Standards were cased, flags were lowered, and the battle ended.

Apart from President Pratibha Patil, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the ceremony was watched by Vice-President M Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A K Antony and the three Service Chiefs, among others.

Of the 35 bands which performed at the ceremony, 20 were military bands while the rest were Pipes and Drums bands. The Army contributed 27 bands and the Navy and the Air Force four each.

As the President arrived, there was fanfare, comprising trumpeters, 38 buglers and 38 echo buglers positioned strategically along the North and South Blocks, Vayu Bhavan and Rail Bhavan.

This was followed by the playing of the National anthem and a tune "Sam Bahadur", composed by L B Gurung.

After this, the Army's 15 Massed Pipes and Drums Bands played six tunes - Surya, a quick march, Sky Boat Song, a slow march, Pipers Cave, a quick march, The Marques of Huntley, a strathspey tune, Jock Wilsons, a reel tune and Highland Laddie, a quick march.

Then, the Massed Military Bands of Air Force and Navy played Ocean’s Splendour, Bhartiya Nau Sena Sky Hawks, Swantatra Bharat ke Shaan, Nocturnal Cry and Subroto.

This was followed by the massed military bands of the Indian Army playing Hanste Lushai, Gangotri, Abhinandan, Dhola re Dhola and Giuri Raj Song.

Thereafter, all the massed military bands played Gulmarg and Abide with me, the enchanting hymn that was one of the favourites of Mahatma Gandhi.

Finally, the popular "Saare Jahan Se Achha", penned by Iqbal, signalled the end of the ceremony even as the sun set and Rashtrapati Bhavan, North Block, South Block, Parliament House and other buildings came alive with bright light.

NNN