‘Vande Mataram’ to regale crowd at Beating Retreat ceremony

New Delhi: Bands of the Indian armed forces and the paramilitary will play an array of lilting tunes and foot-tapping melodies, including ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, ‘Vijay Bharat’, ‘Sitare Hind’ and ‘Brave Warrior’, at the Beating Retreat ceremony here on Thursday that will also celebrate 150 years of the national song.

The majestic ceremony traditionally marks the culmination of Republic Day celebrations every year.

This year, the seating enclosures at Vijay Chowk for the ceremony have been named after Indian instruments such as ‘bansuri’, ‘damaru’, ‘ektara’, ‘esraj’, ‘mridangam’, ‘nagada’, ‘pakhawaj’, ‘santoor’, ‘sarangi’, ‘sarinda’, ‘sarod’, ‘shehnai’, ‘sitar’, ‘surbahar’, ‘tabla’ and ‘veena’.

The dominant theme at this year’s ceremonial parade at the Kartavya Path, and other associated celebrations, has been the sesquicentenary of the national song, ‘Vande Mataram.’

Invitation cards to the ceremonial parade carried the logo of the song’s 150th anniversary, along with a silhouetted image of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and ‘Vande Mataram’ as a watermark. Invitation cards issued for the Beating Retreat ceremony also carry the logo and the commemorative images. Also, performances by the military and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) bands were held from January 19 to 26 in many cities, on the theme of ‘Vande Mataram’. mpost