New Delhi, January 29: The Beating Retreat ceremony 2020, which marks the official culmination of Republic Day festivities, will be held today in the national capital. Massed bands of all three wings of the armed forces - Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy - would perform before President Ram Nath Kovind at the Vijay Chowk. The live telecast of the ceremony could be viewed online on state broadcaster Doordarshan.

Beating The Retreat ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6 am. Along with the President, scores of VIPs and common residents would be viewing the event live at the Vijay Chowk. The event is held annually on January 29, marking the conclusion of four-day long Republic Day festivities. Beating Retreat 2020: Date, Time, Venue, How to Buy Tickets, Where to Watch on TV and Other FAQs Answered.

Watch Live Streaming of Beating The Retreat Event on Doordarshan

The Beating Retreat would be led this year by Commander Vipul Goyal, who would be heading the Inter-services guard. The massed band performance of IAF would be headed by Flight Lieutenant Shrikant Sharma. The Air Force's performance would witness 72 musicians and three drummers.

A controversy erupted earlier this month after the Abide With Me hymn, a Christian song, was dropped from the list of tunes which would feature in Beating The Retreat ceremony. The hymn, reports said, was replaced with Vande Mataram by the Defence Ministry. The decision drew criticism as the hymn had featured in all Beating The Retreat ceremonies in the last 70 years. After the flak, the government decided to use Abide With Me as one of the tunes in this year's ceremony as well.

For the Beating The Retreat event this year, full dress rehearsals were being carried out at the Vijay Chowk over the last two days. Notably, the event was first organised in early 1950s, when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited India. The then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, asked General G.A. Roberts of The Grenadiers regiment to exhibit a "spectacularly creative" performance before the visiting dignitaries.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 29, 2020 05:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).