The Republic Day of India

No matter which part of the world we live in, we always get goosebumps whenever our national anthem plays. Our hearts fill with joy and pride seeing our flag unfurled in the air. And all this happens because our roots still belong to our country. For me and every Indian as well, Republic Day of India is one of the most important days in Indian history. Every year we Indians celebrate 26 January as Republic Day, the day when our country brought its own constitution into existence.

Let every teacher teach the student how to love this nation, let every parent instill in his or her sons and daughters the beauty of our nation.

When I was a kid, this day used to be the most exciting day for me. I still remember participating in parades and cultural events organized in school.

Of late, I noticed that my elder daughter has become very fond of and curious about Indian culture - credit goes to her father’s bedtime stories about Indian mythology and culture - including the history of India.

It was during his history story sessions I got curious about the Republic Day and was able to recall some pretty interesting facts. So here are some of them which I think are worth sharing about the Republic Day of India.

Interesting Facts About the Indian Republic Day

• India got its independence on 15 August 1947. However, it did not yet have a permanent constitution; instead, it’s laws were based on the modified colonial Government of India Act 1935.
• On 29 August 1947, the drafting committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the chairman of this committee.

Photo by Illumination/ornamentation by Beohar Rammanohar Sinha , calligraphy by Prem Behari Narain Raizada./ Public domain

• It took 2 years,11 months and 18 days for the Indian constitution to be drafted. The first Republic Day was celebrated on 26 January 1950, three years after getting independence.
• On 26 January 1929, India pledged to fight for complete self-rule or Purna Swaraj. To hold the significance of this date January 26 was chosen for republic day.
• The Indian Air Force was initially known as Royal Indian Air Force. When India became a republic in 1950, the prefix ‘Royal’ was dropped from the Indian Air Force.
• The first Republic Day was celebrated at the Irwin Amphitheatre (current Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium) in Delhi, attended by 15,000 civilians.
• With a 31-gun salute at the Irwin Stadium in Delhi, India was declared as a Republic and Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the President on 26 January 1950 at 10:30 am.
• The President of Indonesia Mr. Sukarno was the first chief guest who attended republic day celebrations on 26 January 1950.
• Republic day celebration is a three-day-long affair and the celebration ends on 29 January with the beating retreat ceremony.
• The national awards such as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri are awarded on the eve of Republic day.

This year, not being in India, we were missing the true spirit of this day. So we decided to do something to remember the day. I came up with the idea of making the Indian flag at home to mark this day and little craft activity for my kids to enjoy.

Let us remember the golden heritage of our country and feel proud to be a part of India.

Happy 71st Republic Day!