Republic Day Celebrations 2022: Inclusion of frontline workers, boost to start-ups, performances of local art and artists, and much more this time!

The Republic Day Celebrations in 2022 will see major changes. There is a lot more in the store for all of us this time! Read below!

We Indians wait for the whole year to witness the most awaited celebrations at Rajpath on Independence Day and Republic Day, even though from our TVs and mobile phones. As Republic Day is around the corner, the preparation for the parade and the celebrations has already started, but this time, there would be a few additions and differences, unlike the previous years. Keeping in mind the current wave or the third wave of COVID-19, the guest list has been cut short to just 24,000 people. Check out with us what all can Indians can expect from Republic Day celebrations in 2022!

Celebrations began early

This year, the celebrations of Republic Day started on January 23 instead of January 24 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared this day as ‘Parakram Divas’ to highlight the importance of Netaji’s leadership in the Freedom struggle last year. And, the early celebrations were planned to start the R-Day extravaganza with Netaji's birthday.

Parade to start half an hour late

This will be the first time, when the Republic Day Parade will start half an hour late. Every year, the parade starts at 10 a.m. at Rajpath, but this year, it will begin at 10:30 a.m. The move has also been taken to ensure better visibility to the audience, which will otherwise be hampered due to the foggy weather predicted on January 26.

Paying honour to nation's heroes

A nationwide programme of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) named, 'Shaheedon Ko Shat Shat Naman' will also be launched on January 26, as part of the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' to pay tribute to the fighters who sacrificed the lives of the country.

The guestlist includes new invitees

In a first of its kind, the autorickshaw drivers, construction workers, sanitation workers, frontline workers, Olympic participants, women sarpanches will be included in the Republic Day celebrations to showcase their importance in society. All the invitees will have to be double vaccinated and ensure the social distancing norms.

Scrolls depicting freedom struggle

The National Gallery of Modern Art is likely to display 750-metre-long scrolls depicting stories of fighters in the freedom struggle on the Rajpath. The artwork will reflect various traditional art forms like Pattachitra, Talapatra Chitra, Manjusha, Madhubani, and Jadu Patua under the theme of ‘Ek Bharat-Sreshth Bharat’. This will be the first time that two gigantic scroll paintings, each about one kilometre long, will be exhibited at the India Gate. These scrolls have been prepared by over 500 artists.

Nationwide competition to select artists

In another first attempt, a nationwide competition called the 'Vande Bharatam' competition was organized by the ministries of defence and culture to select dancers to perform at the cultural programme in the parade. A total of 480 dancers have been selected for the same.

Bihar's Charlie Chaplin on Rajpath

Ranjan Kumar, who belongs from the Munger district in Bihar, is popular as Charlie Chaplin II, as his name is also recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records with the same title. He will be seen on the Rajpath this time in the tableau of the Ministry of Textiles, in a Gujarati attire.

Veer Gatha competition winners to be felicitated

Similar to the earlier mentioned competition, a 'Veer Gatha' competition was organized, in which over eight lakh students participated across all states and UTs, out of which only 25 students made it to the final list through their essays, poems, drawings, and multimedia presentations. All the winners will be felicitated at the event.

Sustainable initiative

The invitation cards for the Republic Day event have been uniquely designed this time that include medicinal seeds like Aloe vera, Ashwagandha, Amla, etc in them. The guests will be requested to plant the seeds in the flower pots or gardens.

Power of aircrafts

The power of 75 aircraft will be seen in the sky on January 29, during 'Beating Retreat', including aircraft like Rafale, Sukhoi, Jaguar, Mi-17, Sarang, Apache, and Dakota.

Encouraging Indian start-ups

This time, the efforts are also being made to encourage the start-ups, and hence, an IIT Delhi-based start-up will showcase a display with nearly 1,000 drones on January 29.

This way, the Republic Day will be celebrated in 2022. So, keep an eye on your TV sets on that day to enjoy the rejoice of the 75th year of India's Independence and 73rd year of being a republic nation!

Also Read: Try these Republic day looks by the stylist, and designer, Archana Ranjan!

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