Republic Day 2020: All you need to know about Republic Day Parade

The Republic Day, which is celebrated on every January 26 to mark the day the Constitution of India came into effect. The Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the Constitution of India on November 26, 1949. The year 2020 will mark India's 71st Republic Day. Putting aside about the way the day has come into force, one thing that grabs the attention is Republic Day Parade.

In brief, the Republic Day Parade is a march held by the armed forces, which starts from Rajpath and ends at Red Fort in Delhi. The President and Prime Minister of India will preside over the event. The armed forces perform march in salutation to the freedom fighters and the eminent personalities on the diad followed by horse march, regional dances, patriotic songs, and military bike shows.

On this special day, we have collated some interesting facts about the Republic Day Parade.

Every year, the centre invites either the Prime Minister or a President of any other nation as a chief guest for the Republic Day parade. The first parade held on January 26 1950, President of Indonesia Dr Sukarno was invited as a guest. While this year Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to the Republic Day celebrations in 2020.

The parade begins with the arrival of the President and the cavalier bodyguards of the President salute the National Flag. During this time, the National Anthem is played. The 21 Guns Salute is also given using 7- cannons fire three rounds of bullets each. The interesting fact that can be noticed is that the time of gun salute firing will match with the time at which the National Anthem is played.

The participants who undergo practice for 600 hours before performing on January 26 will arrive at the Rajpath by 3 AM.

A special camp comprising of Armored vehicles and modern equipment is organised at India gate to emphasise on the power of India.

The participants will undergo rehearsal of parade covering a distance of 12 kilometres while on the day of Republic Day they cover a maximum of 9 kilometres. The judges who watch the event will judge the groups based on 200 parameters to decide the winner.

The Army personnel who participate in the parade needs to undergo four levels of investigation, and their arms will be checked thoroughly to ensure that there are no live billets.

The tableaus from various states, which are selected to participate in the parade to showcase their traditions, and customs.

The fascinating part of the Republic Day event is "flypast", where the 41 Aircraft participate in parade flying in the air. The Aircrafts take-off from different centres of the Airforce and reach Rajpath at a fixed time.

The song "Abide with me" which is a favourite song of our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi will be played on every Republic Day parade event.

The army personnel participating in the parade march with indigenously made INSAS rifles, whereas personnel of Special Security Forces march with Tavor rifle made in Israel.

Here we wish you a happy Republic Day.