Republic Day 2025 parade begins on Kartavya Path

Pic/PTI

The 76th Republic Day parade began on the Kartavya Path on Sunday with President Droupadi Murmu taking the salute.

Parade Commander and General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, Lieutenant General Bhavnish Kumar led the parade, followed by Parade Second-in-Command and Chief of Staff, HQ Delhi Area, Major General Sumit Mehta.

Winners of the highest gallantry awards, including the Param Vir Chakra and the Ashok Chakra, followed the parade commander.

They include Param Vir Chakra winners Subedar Major (Honorary Captain) Yogendra Singh Yadav (retired) and Subedar Major Sanjay Kumar (retired), and Ashok Chakra winner Lieutenant Colonel Jas Ram Singh (retired).

The Param Vir Chakra is awarded for the most conspicuous act of bravery and self-sacrifice in the face of the enemy, while the Ashok Chakra is awarded for similar acts of valour and self-sacrifice, other than in the face of the enemy.

Earlier, President Droupadi Murmu unfurled the national flag at the Kartavya Path on the 76th Republic Day.

The flag hoisting was assisted by Indian Navy Officer Lieutenant Shubham Kumar and Lt Yogita Saini. The flag unfurling was followed by the national anthem with a booming 21-gun salute given with 105 mm Light Field Guns, an indigenous weapon system, stationed along the iconic Kartavya Path.

The gun salute was presented by the ceremonial battery of the 172 Field Regiment.

President Droupadi Murmu and her Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto arrived at Kartavya Path for the 76th Republic Day parade on Sunday in a traditional buggy, a practice that made a comeback after a 40-year gap last year.

They were escorted by the President's Bodyguard -- "Rashtrapati Ke Angrakshak". The President's Bodyguard is the senior-most regiment of the Indian Army.

The gold-plated, horse-drawn buggy is a black carriage with the national emblem embossed on it in gold. The buggy, drawn by a mixed breed of Indian and Austrian horses, also features gold-plated rims.

The presidential buggy had been used for Republic Day functions till 1984 but was discontinued after the assassination of the then-prime minister Indira Gandhi.

The buggy was last used by Giani Zail Singh in 1984 before being discontinued due to security reasons. The presidents then began using limousines for travel.

In 2014, then-president Pranab Mukherjee used it again for the beating retreat ceremony.

His successor Ram Nath Kovind continued the tradition. He inspected the Guard of Honour in the presidential buggy after taking oath in 2017.

During the British era, the buggy belonged to the viceroy of India. After India's independence in 1947, a row erupted between India and Pakistan regarding claims over the carriage.

With no immediate solution and higher authority to decide on the row, India's then-Lt Colonel Thakur Govind Singh and the Pakistan Army's Sahabzada Yaqub Khan took full responsibility for the fact that ownership of the buggy would depend on a coin toss.

India is believed to have won the toss and the buggy has been with the country since then. The carriage has been used by several presidents on various occasions.