The India-Pakistan international border lies some 30 kms from the Amritsar city. Popularly, known as the Wagha or the Wagah Border, it steams up with patriotic energy as the Sun goes down, every day. The public starts piling up in audience galleries on either side of the border to witness the "Beating the Retreat Ceremony" or the Wagah Border Ceremony.
For long, the place has been known as Wagah border and still about 90 percent of the people, especially tourists refer to it as Wagah border whereas in fact Wagah is a town which lies on the other side of the border in Pakistan. For some 2 years or so, the authorities have changed its name to Attari border, associating it with the village of Attari which is about 2 kms from the international India Pakistan border. The border line is guarded by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and there is a heavy installation of barbed wires to prevent any intrusions. Recently, In 2009, first ever batch of women troops of the BSF were deployed along the India Pakistan border here
Coming back to Beating the Retreat Ceremony, the visitors would witness queues of people lining up to get entry to the "stadium" to witness the ceremony and it is in fact a good idea to arrive much before the scheduled time of the ceremony if you want a good seat in the house. The start timings of the Beating the Retreat ceremony varies according to Summer and Winter season. Generally, the ceremony starts around 1615 hrs in Winter and at about 1645 hrs in the Summer.
The ceremony is the ceremonial closing of gates and lowering of flags of India and Pakistan. The highly "entertaining" ceremony culminates with the lowering of the flags of India and Pakistan. The adrenaline runs high with patriotic slogans being shouted from both the sides. A competition of a different kind is seen between the Indian BSF soldiers and Pakistan Rangers when they attempt to kick higher and stomp harder on the ground and shout for longer than their counterparts in an attempt to outdo each other.
More number of people turn up on weekends and public holidays to witness the Beating the Retreat Ceremony, which lasts for about 45 minutes. There is no accommodation for tourists to stay overnight near the Attari border and they prefer to stay in hotels in Amritsar.
Raminder Pal Singh on Facebook
Raminder Pal Singh on Flickr
For long, the place has been known as Wagah border and still about 90 percent of the people, especially tourists refer to it as Wagah border whereas in fact Wagah is a town which lies on the other side of the border in Pakistan. For some 2 years or so, the authorities have changed its name to Attari border, associating it with the village of Attari which is about 2 kms from the international India Pakistan border. The border line is guarded by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and there is a heavy installation of barbed wires to prevent any intrusions. Recently, In 2009, first ever batch of women troops of the BSF were deployed along the India Pakistan border here
Coming back to Beating the Retreat Ceremony, the visitors would witness queues of people lining up to get entry to the "stadium" to witness the ceremony and it is in fact a good idea to arrive much before the scheduled time of the ceremony if you want a good seat in the house. The start timings of the Beating the Retreat ceremony varies according to Summer and Winter season. Generally, the ceremony starts around 1615 hrs in Winter and at about 1645 hrs in the Summer.
The ceremony is the ceremonial closing of gates and lowering of flags of India and Pakistan. The highly "entertaining" ceremony culminates with the lowering of the flags of India and Pakistan. The adrenaline runs high with patriotic slogans being shouted from both the sides. A competition of a different kind is seen between the Indian BSF soldiers and Pakistan Rangers when they attempt to kick higher and stomp harder on the ground and shout for longer than their counterparts in an attempt to outdo each other.
More number of people turn up on weekends and public holidays to witness the Beating the Retreat Ceremony, which lasts for about 45 minutes. There is no accommodation for tourists to stay overnight near the Attari border and they prefer to stay in hotels in Amritsar.
Raminder Pal Singh on Facebook
Raminder Pal Singh on Flickr
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