| Glimpses of the First Republic Day Celebrations and India's First President |
Editor’s note. This article first appeared in Fauji Akhbar (now renamed Sainik Samachar) February 4, 1950. It was posted as pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2008/jan/r20080124011.pdf
Unforgettable scenes of enthusiasm and rejoicing marked the beginning of a new era in Indian History when the Republic of India was born with the swearing in of Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the as the first President.
At the most solemn ceremony, held in the brilliantly lit and high domes of Durbar Hall at Government House, India was declared a Sovereign Democratic Republic exactly at eighteen minutes past ten on the morning of Thursday, January 26, 1950. Six minutes later, Dr. Rajendra Prasad sworn in as the President.
The birth of Indian Republic and the installation of its first President were announced by a salute of 31 guns shortly after 10-30 a.m.
The simple and yet grand ceremony of the Durbar Hall, the excitement of hundreds of thousands of people lining the five-mile route through which the President drove in state and the spectacularly colourful parade at Irwin Stadium, where the President hoisted the Union Flag and took the salute, will remain in the peoples' memory for long.
