(Image source from: hindustantimes.com)

The 26th of January is getting near like a wave filled up with patriotism and pride as we the citizens of India will be celebrating our 71st Republic Day as this was the day the country India has become republic with the Constitution of India coming into effect on this day in the year 1950.

January 26th was also the day when Pt Jawaharlal Nehru has first unfurled Indian tri color in the year 1930 at Lahore and the independent Indian National Congress has been declared.

The Republic Day is celebrated on January 26 every year with a grand parade being held at New Delhi which is the capital of India. The parade will be held along the Raisina Hill which is near the Rashtrapati Bhavan, passes the India Gate and the parade goes to the Red Fort.

The Prime Minister of India lays a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyothi at the India Gate as he commemorates and pays homage to all the soldiers who has laid their lives for the country and a 21 gun salute will be presented.

The President of India unfurls the glorious National Flag and the National Anthem is sung with the hearts filled with pride and the emotions of patriotism gushing in the soul of every Indian and this marks the beginning of the parade.

The parade starts with the gallantry award winners passing the President in 71

open jeeps with the President being the Commander- in- Chief of the Indian Armed Forces will be seen taking the salute at the grand parade.

The armed forces will be given with the medals of bravery for their exceptional courage in the field and also to the brave citizens of India who have been indulged in various acts of courage.

The republic Day also witnesses a cultural parade which portrays the rich cultural heritage of India being depicted in the form of tableaus from various states with each state show casing its unique festivals, art and historic locations.

The celebrations also awards the courageous children from all over the country with National Bravery Awards. The armed forces personnel displays skilful motor- cycle rides and the Indian Air Force fly past concluding the parade.

The celebration of Republic Day will be witnessed by a chief guest who is a notable foreign Head- of- State, will be invited to our country. The guests for the past five years has been President Barak Obama of the United States in the year 2015, the year 2016 has witnessed the President Francois Hollande of France and the chief guest for the year 2017 was Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates.

The invitees for the Chief guests for the year 2018 were the ten guests who were the heads of ASEAN states which included Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith of Laos, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ofr Myanmar, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte of Philippines, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha of Thailand, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam.

The chief guest for the year 2019 was president Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.

The year 2020 would witness the President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil as its chief guest for celebrating its 71st Republic Day.

The traffic has been congested in the New Delhi for the rehearsal for the parade that is to done on Janauary 26th would be proceeded towards the Red Fort via Rajpath, C- Hexagon, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Netaji Subhash Marg.

The Noida Traffic Police has said that the entry of commercial vehicles to Delhi from Noida will be barred from 11 pm of January 25th and will be continued to the next day January 26.

The traffic will be stopped from entering into the Rajpath from Vijay Chowk to India Gate on Saturday from 6 pm till the parade gets concluded on the Republic Day

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be paying homage to the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the nation at the National War Memorial located at the India Gate for the fist time in the history of India. It is said that the PM Narendra Modi will be laying the wreath at the National War Memorial that has been inaugurated by the Prime Minister on February 25, 2019 which was built at the ‘C’ Hexagon near the India Gate in the memory of the Indian soldiers who have laid their lives for the country.

By Shrithika Kushangi