Beating Retreat Held With Musical Extravaganza; 1K Drones Illuminate Delhi Sky

New Delhi: Beating the Retreat ceremony was held at the historic Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Saturday evening. as part of a drone show which was the highlight of the Beating Retreat ceremony, around 1000 drones dazzled the sky above Delhi.

For the first time ever, the drone show with synchronised background music was organised by a startup ‘Botlab Dynamics’ and supported by Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Department of Science and Technology.

The drone show was made a part of the ceremony for the first time to commemorate 75 years of Independence, being celebrated as ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

During the ten minutes drone show, the government achievements were showcased through many creative formations in the dark sky. Now, India is the 4th country after China, Russia and UK to carry out such a large scale show with one thousand drones.

A total of 26 performances enthralled the spectators with foot-tapping music played by the bands of Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Central Armed Police Forces. Besides, A number of new tunes were added to the ceremony to celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air force and others witnessed the show. Martial musical tunes with Indian fervour was the flavour of the ceremony this year.

The Beating the Retreat’ is a centuries-old military tradition dating from 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. It is for this reason that the custom of standing still during the sounding of retreat has been retained to this day. Colours and standards are cased and flags lowered at retreats. Drumbeats recall the days when troops, lodged in towns and cities, were recalled to their quarters at an appointed time in the evening. Based on these military traditions, ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony creates a mood of nostalgia of the times gone by.