I'd read that its possible to obtain a permit to watch the Changing of the Guard Ceremony which takes place at the official residence of the President of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi.
However the official Government website consistently failed and the Indian Tourist Authority didn't acknowledge my emails, let alone advise me. I then found a Blog where the author said 'foreigners' can turn up 20 mins before the ceremony starts, show their passports and they'll be admitted if space permits.
None of the Delhi 'locals' I've spoken to know about the weekly ceremony or that its possible to watch it!
The current regular army guard is the Fifth Battalion, the First Gurkha Rifles. These are fierce warriors and still also serve in the British army. They all carry a curved knife - the kukri. We have a great deal of respect for Gurkha soldiers - we see many in Kent following their retirement after their British army service. They often open shops or restaurants.
A few years ago in Kent a mugger made the mistake of trying to rob a Gurkha. He got his comeuppance, naturally. The story is here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217460/Gurkha-ignores-knife-wound-trap-mugger-15-minutes-blade-stuck-arm.html
We were so tired last night that David said he didn't really want to get up at 6.30 this morning but … I persuaded him, and he's glad I did.
We got a Tuk Tuk to the Palace and then the fun began. At the first police checkpoint they wanted to see our permit. 'No permit' we said, Here's our passports ….. lots of head shaking! 'You need permit to enter' …. we stood our ground and they shrugged shoulders and sent us on to the next police checkpoint where we went through the same rigmarole.
This time we got one stage further and were passed to the Army checkpoint. They were all full of bluster (easy to do when you're sporting machine guns) but none of them could really cope with two determined Brits who were adamant we'd been assured we could enter on provision of valid passports. We won!
It was a misty start to the morning
There were lots of monkeys around …
The Gurkhas
The Sh*t Shovellers … before the Bandsmen march onto the parade ground
However the official Government website consistently failed and the Indian Tourist Authority didn't acknowledge my emails, let alone advise me. I then found a Blog where the author said 'foreigners' can turn up 20 mins before the ceremony starts, show their passports and they'll be admitted if space permits.
None of the Delhi 'locals' I've spoken to know about the weekly ceremony or that its possible to watch it!
The Palace is guarded by the President's
BodyGuard, the most senior Regiment of the Indian Army, together with a battalion from the regular army.
A few years ago in Kent a mugger made the mistake of trying to rob a Gurkha. He got his comeuppance, naturally. The story is here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217460/Gurkha-ignores-knife-wound-trap-mugger-15-minutes-blade-stuck-arm.html
The ceremony itself starts at 8am but visitors are let in at 7.30am to take their seats. It includes foot drill, troop inspections and ends with an equestrian display, all accompanied by a military band.
We were so tired last night that David said he didn't really want to get up at 6.30 this morning but … I persuaded him, and he's glad I did.
We got a Tuk Tuk to the Palace and then the fun began. At the first police checkpoint they wanted to see our permit. 'No permit' we said, Here's our passports ….. lots of head shaking! 'You need permit to enter' …. we stood our ground and they shrugged shoulders and sent us on to the next police checkpoint where we went through the same rigmarole.
This time we got one stage further and were passed to the Army checkpoint. They were all full of bluster (easy to do when you're sporting machine guns) but none of them could really cope with two determined Brits who were adamant we'd been assured we could enter on provision of valid passports. We won!
It was a misty start to the morning
There were lots of monkeys around …
The President's bodyguard
 |
The Sh*t Shovellers … before the Bandsmen march onto the parade ground
What a wonderful sight, well worth the early morning. The Ghurka link didn’t work but I looked it up, very brave man.
ReplyDeleteHiya Di.
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased you can now comment. I'd tried loading Chrome onto the travel computer as that worked before when Blogger wouldn't show comments via Firefox but it didn't work this time.
Yes, gotta love the Gurkhas!
Yes I’m using chrome now and so far it’s working well. I’ve added comments to the previous posts but they’re pretty short and sweet as I couldn’t always remember what I’d written!
Delete