INA’s ‘Kadam kadam badhaye ja’ to kickstart Beating Retreat
Ceremony to conclude with ‘Sara jahan se accha’
Bands of the Indian armed forces and the paramilitary will play an array of tunes and melodies at the Beating Retreat ceremony here on Thursday, which will also celebrate 150 years of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’.
The ceremony will commence with iconic tune of ‘Kadam kadam badhaye ja’. Composed by Captain Ram Singh Thakuri in 1942, it was adopted for the ‘quick march’ for Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army.
The Beating Retreat ceremony will end with poet Allama Iqbal’s melody ‘Sare Jahan se accha…’
The Ministry of Defence said the ceremony will be conducted at Vijay Chowk, which sits at the base of the Raisina Hill housing the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
As the bands of the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Central Armed Police Forces play captivating Indian tunes, the ceremony will mark the culmination of 77th Republic Day celebrations.
The ceremony will begin with the bands playing ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, followed by melodious tunes by the Pipes & Drums band such as Atulya Bharat, Veer Sainik, Mili Jhuli, Nritya Sarita, Marooni and Jhelum. The CAPF bands will play Vijay Bharat, Hathrohi, Jai Ho and Veer Seepahi, said the MoD.
The tunes played by the IAF band include Brave Warrior, Twilight, Alert and Flying Star, while the Navy’s band will play Namaste, Sagar Pawan, Matribhumi, Tejasvi, and Jai Bharati.
It will be followed by the Army’s band playing Vijayee Bharat, Aarambh Hai, Prachand Hai, Aye Watan, Aye Watan, Anand Math, Sugamya Bharat and Sitare Hind.
The ‘massed bands’ -- comprising all those present -- will, then, play the tunes Bharat Ke Shaan, Vande Mataram and Drummers Call. The event will finally close with the ever-popular tune of Sare Jahan Se Acha to be played by the Buglers, the MoD said.
This year, the seating enclosures at Vijay Chowk for the ceremony have been named after Indian instruments -- Bansuri, Damaru, Ektara, Esraj, Mridangam, Nagada, Pakhawaj, Santoor, Sarangi, Sarinda, Sarod, Shehnai, Sitar, Surbahar, Tabla and Veena.
Besides members of the public, President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with several Union Ministers and senior officials will also attend the ceremony.
