1,000 Made in India drones light up Delhi sky during the Beating Retreat Ceremony

31 Jan,22 9:30 am
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Beating Retreat ceremony: A mega drone show dazzled the sky today during the Beating the Retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk in the national capital as part of the country's 73rd Republic Day celebrations.

Key Highlights:

  • The Beating Retreat ceremony marks the end of the nation's Republic Day celebrations, which began on January 23 on the occasion of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary.
  • The Beating Retreat ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and defence minister Rajnath Singh among others.
  • In a first-of-its-kind laser show, around a thousand made-in-India drones lit up the sky in different formations.
  • The show was organized by a startup called Botlab Dynamics and supported by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.
  • India has become the fourth country in the world after UK, Russia and China to have achieved this feat.
  • In addition, the Beating Retreat ceremony also included a projection mapping show to commemorate 75 years of independence on the walls of North Block and South Block.

About Beating Retreat ceremony:

  • The ceremony is held annually at Vijay Chowk in Delhi.
  • At the ceremony, the bands of the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) stood in various formations and played music.
  • The entry band played the ‘Veer Sainik’ tune, followed by Pipes & Drums Band, CAPF Band, Air Force Band, Naval Band, Army Military Band and Massed Bands.
  • Commander Vijay Charles D’Cruz was the principal conductor of the ceremony.
  • To celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, new tunes were added to the ceremony. These included ‘Kerala’, ‘Hind ki Sena’ and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’.
  • The event concluded with ‘Sare Jahan se Acha’.

For the first time in more than 70 years, the popular hymn 'Abide With Me' was not part of the ceremony.

Note:

  • The Beating Retreat ceremony 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 and withdrew from the battlefield.

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