I have been planning to visit Suchetgarh Border for quite sometime now, although have visited there in past and Jagat Travels has been providing taxi on rent to Tourists visiting the border. But somehow plan was not getting materialised.
On 29th Sep, i was reading the newspaper and there was full page advertisement about Mr Manoj Sinha doing an inauguration on 02nd Oct, for Beating Retreat to performed at Suchetgarh Border on the lines of Beating Retreat performed at Wagah Border, Amritsar (just FYI we also provide cab from Jammu to visit Wagah Border). I decided what would be more apt time to visit the border and feel proud to be Indian with 56 inch ka sina.
From Jammu Airport to SuchetGarh Border is about 22kms and it takes around 40-45mins to reach there on car. We (I, Chaman Bhaiya and Harish) decided to get their by 3.30pm, so that we are well before the scheduled start time of Beating Retreat at 5pm and get seated comfortably with good view. So, we started around 2.45pm from our place and reached SuchetGarh Border comfortably by 3.30pm.
The atmosphere was electrifying, fully charged with 100s of people from Jammu and nearby villages coming to witness the Beating retread, with High Josh, BSF jawans guards our borders and they look impressive in their uniforms. The security was on tight, we had to go through standard screening process and show ID cards to get inside. Remember, Mr Manoj Sinha was to Inaugurate and hence more security checks were in place.
It all started sharp at 5pm with cultural dances and songs and then came the drill of BSF jawans, you get goosebumps, the perform with so much energy it just so amazing and you feel so proud.
The entire show takes around 1-1.5 hr, so left around 7pm, elated and charged up back to Jammu. I highly recommend, anyone visiting Vaishno Devi, Katra should also visit Suchegarh Border. One can easily hire a car or taxi from Jammu or Katra to visit Suchegarh Border.
When to Visit:
- Currently Beating retreat only happens on Saturday and Sunday, 5pm to 7pm
- Border itself is open everyday 10am-7pm