Beating Retreat brings the curtain down on Republic Day 2010 celebrations

New Delhi, Jan 29(ANI): Beating Retreat, a centuries old military tradition dating back to the days when troops disengaged from battle at sunset, brought an end to the Republic Day celebrations for 2010 on Friday evening.

Music bands from the Army, Air Force and the Navy played on a series of martial tunes based on established military traditions, creating a mood of nostalgia for the times gone by.

The entire event was done in the presence of the President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the three service chiefs- Army chief General Deepak Kapoor, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik and Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, and other dignitaries.

The program included 21 martial tunes, including popular ones like 'Sam Bahadur sky board song', 'Pipes and Drums', 'Pipers Cave', 'Jock Wilson' and 'Highland Laddle'.

The Navy and Air Force bands played tunes like 'Ocean's Splendour', 'Bharatiya Navsena', 'Sky Hawks' and 'Swantantra Bharat Ki Shaan'.

Military bands played tunes like 'Hanste Lashai', 'Gangotri', 'Abhinandan', 'Giriraj' and 'Dola Re Dola'.

The function concluded with Massed Bands playing 'Drummer's Call' and Mahatma Gandhi's favourite tune "Abide With Me'. This was followed by retreat by 'Buglers' and 'Saare Jahan Se Acha'.

The function lasted a little over an hour. By Ashok Dixit (ANI)