Photo gallery: Republic Day parade dress rehearsal at full swing in Delhi

The final dress rehearsals for the 71st Republic Day parade are on full swing in New Delhi today. It is the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day celebrations in India.

PM Modi has invited Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day event this year. 

Every year the Centre invites a world leader to be the chief guest at the Republic Day event. Last year it was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who graced the Republic Day celebrations as the guest of honour.

It is the main attraction of India's Republic Day celebrations, which last for 3 days. The parade is held from Rajpath to Vijay Chowk. 

Keeping the parade in mind, India Gate among other major roads in the city will remain closed for traffic. Even the movement of trains Tilak Bridge station have been stopped from 10:30 am to noon to facilitate the parade rehearsals.

Metro services will also be affected due to dress rehearsal as the entry and exit will remain closed at Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan from 5 am till 12 pm on Thursday.

Several roads in central Delhi will also remain shut for few hours on Thursday for the full dress rehearsal, which begins from Vijay Chowk.

The parade will proceed towards the Red Fort via Rajpath, C-Hexagon, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Netaji Subhash Marg, taking the route the actual parade will take on Republic Day.

The Red Fort too will remain closed for the general public till January 31, on account of Republic Day celebrations.

The Ministry of Defence has shortlisted a total of 22 participants for the Republic Day parade. 

The parade participants including 16 States and Union Territories and six ministries and departments have been shortlisted for participation in the parade after a series of five meetings.

The tableaux proposals received from various States/UTs and Central Ministries/Departments are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising of eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography etc.

Tableaux from Odisha during the Republic Day final dress rehearsals in New Delhi.

Tableaux from Gujarat during the Republic Day final dress rehearsals in New Delhi.