'Abide With Me': All You Need To Know About Hymn Dropped From Beating Retreat Ceremony

'Abide With Me' hymn will no longer be a part of India's Republic Day Beating Retreat ceremony. The hymn was played at the conclusion of the event at Vijay Chowk on January 29 every year.

The hymn was Mahatma Gandhi's favourite and was written in 1847 by Scottish Anglican Henry Francis Lyte as he was dying of tuberculosis.

The hymn is a prayer for God to stay with the speaker through life and in death. It is usually sung to the tune 'Eventide' by William Henry Monk.

While it has been omitted from Beating Retreat ceremony in India, the hymn continues to be sung at Australia and New Zealand's annual Anzac Day services, Remembrance Day services in Canada and the UK.

Beating Retreat is a 17th century English military ritual that was used to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle. During wars, beating retreat signalled the end of day's fighting for soldiers so that they would withdraw from the battlefield.