'Beating Retreat' ceremony held at Delhi’s Vijay Chowk

To commemorate 75 years of India's independence, this year’s 'Beating Retreat' ceremony witnessed a novel drone show of around 1,000 'Made in India' drones.

New Delhi: 'Beating Retreat' ceremony was held at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Saturday (January 29, 2022), marking the formal end of Republic Day celebrations. 

To commemorate 75 years of India's independence, this year’s ceremony witnessed a novel drone show of around 1,000 'Made in India' drones. The drone show was organised by a startup 'Botlab Dynamics' and supported by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and the Department of Science & Technology. During the show, the drones fabricated through indigenous technology flew with synchronised background music. 

#WATCH | The ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony, which marks the formal end of Republic Day celebrations, is being held at Vijay Chowk in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/Zzq3vmWGbj

— ANI (@ANI) January 29, 2022

Commenting on the drone show, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said, "It's a matter of pride that for the first time 1000 drones will light up the sky during the beating retreat ceremony. India will become the 4th country in the world after UK, Russia & China to have achieved this feat." 

The event was attended by President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Ram Nath Kovind.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and chiefs of tri-services earlier arrived at Vijay Chowk for the ‘Beating Retreat’ ceremony. 

Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and chiefs of tri-services arrive at Vijay Chowk for the ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony, which marks the formal end of Republic Day celebrations pic.twitter.com/d69L1ENqv0

— ANI (@ANI) January 29, 2022

A total of 26 performances captured the spectators with foot-tapping music played by the bands of Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), along with martial musical tunes. 

'Beating Retreat' ceremony is conducted on the evening of January 29 and is organized by the Defence Ministry. The ceremony was started in 1955 and has been a hallmark of Republic Day celebrations ever since.

The event came to a close with the tune of `Sare Jahan Se Acha`. This year, the hymn `Abide With Me` was dropped from the event as per the Indian defence officials.