Republic Day 2023: Indian and Pakistani soldiers on Thursday held an iconic and traditional beating retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab's Amritsar on the occasion of Republic Day 2023. Thousands of visitors gathered across the sides to witness a thrilling performance by high-spirited security personnel deployed at the front along the India-Pakistan international border in Punjab.
Indians across the world on Thursday celebrated the 74th Republic Day with global leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli, Australian and Bhutanese Prime Ministers, extending their greetings, highlighting their strong friendship with India.
Attari-Wagah retreat ceremony
BSF and Pakistani armed forces organize a retreat ceremony on the occasion of Republic Day. Attari-Wagah is also popular for 'the lowering of the flags ceremony' which is a daily joint military practice being held since 1959.
Foot stomping manoeuvres of the troops
The BSF conducts the synchronised ceremony in coordination with their counterparts Pakistan Rangers and it involves lowering of the flags of the two countries along with foot stomping manoeuvres of the troops with patriotic songs playing in the background on either side. Visitors in a huge number reach to witness the event which gives goosebumps.
Online tickets
Visitors planning to witness the daily national flag lowering and retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah can book their seats online. BSF recently launched an online booking system. One can book a ticket on a web portal- http://attari.bsf.gov.in.
Earlier, people used to reach the retreat area without a prior booking and the BSF allowed them to take seats in the gallery on production of an ID card.
The new facility is not chargeable and visitors will be initially allowed to book 12 persons in one group, 48 hours prior to the desired day, after furnishing photo ID card details online, a senior BSF officer said.
The booking details will be sent through an SMS on the mobile number of the group leader or the first visitor listed, he said.
The Attari border front, also called the joint check post or JCP, is located about 26 kms from Amritsar city and hundreds of domestic visitors, foreign tourists and locals go everyday to watch the daily flag lowering and retreat ceremony conducted in a synchronised fashion by smartly-dressed BSF personnel along with their counterparts Pakistan Rangers, on their side known as Wagah.
The BSF has now numbered the seats in the viewing gallery so that it can hold about 20,000-25,000 visitors daily.
While the Attari stadia can hold about 25,000 people daily, the rush of visitors on weekends and days of national festivals like Independence Day and Republic Day swells upto as much as 40,000 persons. The online booking will also allow the tourists to visit the BSF museum and border pillar no 102 that is erected next to the Attari border gate.
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