Republic Day (India)

When it falls

26 January every year, a national holiday. The parade on Kartavya Path in Delhi begins at ten in the morning; Beating Retreat closes the celebrations on the twenty-ninth.

The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.

The story

The Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, and India became a republic with Rajendra Prasad as its first President. The date was chosen because the Congress had declared Pūrṇa Swarāj, complete independence, on 26 January 1930 at Lahore, and had kept the day as Independence Day for the seventeen years until the real one came in August.

The parade is the country's military and civil display: the regiments and the missiles, the camel contingent of the Border Security Force, the daredevil motorcyclists, the tableaux of the states and the ministries, the schoolchildren, and the flypast that ends it. A head of state or government is the chief guest each year.

How the day is kept

• The President unfurls the flag at Kartavya Path and takes the salute of the parade; the Param Vīr Chakra and the year's gallantry awards are presented, and the Padma awards are announced the night before.
• Flag hoisting in every state capital by the governor, and in schools and offices, with the national anthem and the distribution of sweets.
• Beating Retreat on the evening of the twenty-ninth at Vijay Chowk, the massed bands of the three services playing as the sun sets and the buildings light up.
• The Prime Minister's tribute at the National War Memorial before the parade.

More national days