Wagah

Wagah border post, about 29 km from Amritsar on the Grand Trunk, has become famous for the ceremonial closing of gates and lowering of flags of India and Pakistan. Over 5000 people converge on the Indian side alone to watch the ceremony known as Beating the Retreat. Wagah is about 29 km from Amritsar in Punjab province.

As the Flag Code of India mandates that the national flag shall be flown only from sunrise to sunset, the tricolour is hoisted after sunrise and lowered at sunset. The martial ceremony of lowering the flag has been turned into an entertainment at Wagah. It is a highly stylized patriotic aggression on display that is hard to miss and is carried out with great ceremonial pomp and energy.

The BSF and Pakistan Rangers compete to kick higher, march harder and shout for longer duration in a bid to outdo each other. Guards using their bodies rather than their weapons lay on display carefully choreographed contempt. It is a masterly demonstration of how angry you can get without hitting anyone.

The flag lowering ceremony, traditionally, has been a display of mutual hatred by BSF and Pakistan Rangers. Even though the whole routine is choreographed and agreed to by India and Pakistan, the ceremony has often been a cause of contention between both the countries.

Guards who participate in the drill are carefully chosen on the basis of height, imposing stature, etc., besides their ability to perform the drill to perfection. Even though more aggressive elements of the routine have been toned down, the ostentatious and theatrical hostility is electrifying.