-Explore national symbols and their meanings
-Understand the significance sharing common celebrations
-Learn about India's adoption of a Constitution
-Prompt discussion about government and nationa building.
Watch the video on this page
Listen to the radio broadcast from that day in 1950
Think - Think about the first Republic Day as you listen to the radio broadcast.
Ask – When did this
happen? What was
India like then?
How can we find out more about that time?
Why are parades important? Why do we have parades?
Play - Plan your own
parade: Plan a parade to celebrate something important to you or
to your family – how will you show things that are important to
you?
Subscribe
Republic Day - A Grand National Celebration
Keywords from the video: President's Bodyguard, Rajpath, Camel Patrol of the Border Security Force, India's National Flag, NCC - National Cadet Corps, National Bravery Awards, Jai Hind, Beating of the Retreat, the first Republic Day
Republic Day celebrated on January 26
every year is a
special day for India. On this day, in 1950 the country became
a sovereign democratic republic with a written constitution and
elected parliament.
Republic Day is India’s greatest national
celebration.
In Delhi there is a spectacular parade that is watched
by hundreds and thousands of people who line the parade route and by
other countless millions on TV and on the internet. The video
below is about that parade. It starts from
Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the President of India lives and ends at
historic Red Fort. The President of India takes the salute of
the contingents of Armed Forces.
The first Republic Day on January 26, 1950: The highlights of the very first Republic Day celebrations were the swearing in ceremony at the Durbar Hall in Government House of Dr Rajendra Prasad (Listen to this! "On This Day" from the BBC - Radio broadcast on January 26, 1950 as India becomes a Republic) as the first President of the Republic, and the Presidential drive along a five-mile route to the Irwin Stadium, where he unfurled the National Flag.
Sources: Many of the photographs in the video are from the National Informatics Center http://home.nic.in/ ; words of the slide show are based on the book "Parade" by Donald Crews.
Republic Day Crafts
For some Republic Day crafts click here
For Parents - A Lesson Plan@Home about Republic Day for you and your child
For activities for you to do with your child using the links in this lesson - Click here
Last reviewed December 2010
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.