The Border Security Force Camel Band is the

mounted band A mounted band is a military or civilian musical ensemble composed of musician playing their instruments while being mounted on an animal. The instrumentation of these bands are limited, with the musician having to play their instrument, as well a ...

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It was formed in the wake of the Indo-Pak War of 196 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The 36-member camel band is one of two official

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

s in the BSF. It was formed in 1986 at the Rajasthan Frontier as a result of a concept introduced by Shri Rathore. It was the first camel mounted military band in the world to be established, being mentioned in

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

as such. It is currently the only band of its kind in the world. After its establishment, it engaged in three years of intensive training until its first performance in January 1990. Deen Bandhu was the first bandmaster of the band. It consists of thirteen musicians mounted specifically on

dromedary camel The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius''), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel and one-humped camel, is a large camel of the genus ''Camelus'' with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three camel species; adult males stan ...

s. Its instrumentation includes a

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

, two

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

s, a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

, a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, a

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

, all led by a director of music.

Republic Day

It is one of the unique sights of the

Delhi Republic Day parade The Delhi Republic Day parade is the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day (India), Republic Day celebrations in India. The parade takes place every year on 26 January at Rajpath, Kartavya Path, New Delhi. It is the ...

and has been an annual participant since 1990. The only time it has missed a parade was in 2016 due to a lack of preparation. In October 2019, the BSF protested the non-inclusion of its marching contingent, since it had only been asked to send its camel-mounted band to the Republic Day Parade. Scouts and Guides for Animals and Birds with OIPA: Indian People for Animals, through Naresh Kadyan, Retired Commissioner, Bharat Scouts and Guides, Haryana, moved PIL, before the Delhi High Court, for an order to ensure human treatment in the movement of 100 camels from Rajasthan to Delhi, to take part in Republic Day Parade.

Other events

It is a permanent feature in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and

Marwar Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. 'Maru' is a Sanskrit word for desert. The word 'wad' literally means fence in Rajasthani languages. Engl ...

festivals and has also participated in various

military tattoo A military tattoo is a performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase ' ('turn off the tap'), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeepers near military g ...

s. U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

lauded the performance of during his

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

on 5 November 2010. 10 years prior, it took part in the

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Ca ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Besides the Republic Day Parade, it participates in the BSF Raising Day Event. It has also participated in many festivals across the country. The band and the ceremonial BSF Camel contingent perform regularly at the Jodhpur Sthapana Divas, the Thar Mahostav at Barmer, the Desert Festival of Jaisalmer, and the annual Camel Fair and Festival of Bikaner.Press release
nic.in

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations established in 1986 Musical groups established in 1986 1986 establishments in Rajasthan Indian military bands Mounted bands

Republic Day

Other events

See also

References