Beating retreat ceremony - A Euphoric sense of freedom and patriotism

The Beating Retreat Ceremony (Locally popular as Flag Ceremony) at the India Bangladesh Border - (Petrapole - Benapole)

It's already August... A sense of freedom is in the air as our Independence day (15th August) is approaching. If you were in north India then I would have suggested to visit Wagah Border and see the evening flag ceremony that is also known as the "Beating Retreat Ceremony"... But don't be upset if you are not able to visit Wagah Border...Even if you are in Kolkata / West Bengal you can still feel the grandeur of this ceremony... You must be wondering how?... My dear friend Mr.Ramananand (Anand) who is an avid traveller and a prolific writer visited the India-Bangladesh border and witnessed a similar ceremony... I requested him to write down his experience... and here is what he shared...

My friend Mr. Ramananand (we call him Anand 😊)

The Beating retreat ceremony at the Indo-Bangladesh Border is something which needs to be witnessed to feel the patriotic passion we all need to incur as a proud Indian.

It not only instills the sense of freedom, which we all enjoy because there are our Jawans safe-guarding our Country, but it also depicts how the friendship is further strengthened between our two countries.

The Beating Retreat Ceremony

'Beating Retreat' marks a centuries-old military tradition,  when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield and returned to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat. One can experience the Beating Retreat Ceremony with ceremonial closing of gates and lowering of flags of India and Bangladesh at a place called Petrapole on the Indian side of the Petrapole-Benapole border checkpoint between India and Benapole of Bangladesh.

During the Director General Level Talks held in March, 2013 at New Delhi between Border Security Force and Border Guards Bangladesh, it was decided to commence Joint Retreat Ceremony at Integrated Check Posts (ICP) Benapole-Petrapole in the first phase and subsequently at Burimari-Changrabands, Akhaura-Agartala and Banglabandha-Phulbari, between troops of BSF & BGB. the Home Minister inaugurated the joint retreat ceremony at ICP Petrapole on November 06, 2013 in the presence of Home Minister of Bangladesh.

The best way to reach this place is to take a local train from Sealdah Railway Station to Bongaon Station... . From there take an autorickshaw to the Border (Petrapole). Petrapole is situated 6 km from Bangaon.

This retreat ceremony happens everyday between 5pm -5:30pm. The traffic is stopped from both the sides of the border at this time and civilians are allowed to witness this amazing ceremony between the two countries. In both the sides permanent seating arrangements are made for the viewers exclusively for this ceremony. Petrapole's Beating retreat is very similar to the one that happens on the Wagah - attari Border.

Once the ceremony is over you can even take selfies with the BSF Jawaans. Overall it's an amazing experience... so do make a plan to visit Petrapole Border where Patriotic fervour is always at full mast.

Here's the map of the place:-

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Mr. Ramananand

About our Guest Blogger:-

Born in the garden city of India (Bangalore), I have seen the transformation of Bangalore from the city of Bungalows to concrete buildings. My penchant for travelling grew from the time I realised that its time to widen the scope of my knowledge on Geography visually, my passion to travel took me from Mumbai Elephanta Caves to the stepwells of pattan, in Gujarat, to the ancient caves of Ratnagiri in Odisha. I always wanted to do something, not many people would attempt to do in their lives... And travelling would give that much needed 'high', which needs to be experienced, to be described... Whether you travel solo or in groups, it's the attitude to explore the unknown, without any planning, that adds to the excitement manifold. Happy Travelling 😊👍