Beating The Retreat Ceremony Pics: Republic Day Festivities Come To An End At Raisina Hill Covered With Kaleidoscopic Lights

The colourful event came to a close with the marching bands tapping their way back to the tune of ‘Sare Jahan Se Achcha' amid thumping applause from the audience./ TWITTER

The Vice President, the Prime Minister and other dignitaries had already arrived at the Vijay Chowk and the threes services chiefs stood in rapt attention waiting for the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces./ GETTY

The Indian tunes included ‘Indian Star', ‘Paharon ki Rani', ‘Kumaoni Geet', ‘Jai Janam Bhumi', ‘Queen of Satpura', ‘Marooni', ‘Vijay', ‘Soldier-My Valentine', ‘Bhupal', ‘Vijay Bharat', ‘Aakash Ganga', ‘Gangotri', ‘Namaste India', ‘Samudrika', ‘Jai Bharat', ‘Young India', ‘Veerta Ki Misal', ‘Amar Senani' and ‘Bhumiputra'./ TWITTER

New Delhi: As the sun prepared to hide behind the Raisina Hill, silhouettes of men astride horses appeared on top of the Hill. It was the Presidents Bodyguard strutting down to the Vijay Chowk flanking the Presidents limousine for Beating the Retreat ceremony./ IMAGE: TWITTER

‘Beating the Retreat' marks a centuries old military tradition, when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield and returned to the camps at sunset./ GETTY

The eight Western tunes were ‘Fanfare by Buglers', ‘Sound Barrier', ‘Emblazoned', 'Twilight', ‘Alert (Post Horn Gallop)', ‘Space Flight', ‘Drummers Call' and ‘Abide with Me'./ GETTY

This year, Indian tunes were the flavour of as many as 27 performances, with 19 tunes composed by Indian musicians from the Army, Navy, Air Force, police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF)./ GETTY

The ceremony on January 29 every year, which creates nostalgia for the times gone by, marks the culmination of the Republic Day celebrations./ GETTY