In pics | Then and now: How India celebrated its independence in 1947 and today

India celebrated its 77th Independence Day on Tuesday (August 15) with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the crowd in a 90-minute speech at Red Fort in New Delhi and unfurling the flag from the Lahori Gate of the historic monument. 

Image shows Independence Day Celebrations in front of the Parliament Building in Delhi, on August 15, 1947. 

India celebrated its hard-won Independence from the British at the stroke of midnight on 14 August 1947, during which the country's first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his famous first speech to the Indian Constituent Assembly in the Parliament House, 'Tryst with Destiny'. 

It began with the lines: "Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny. Now the time has come when we shall redeem our pledge – not wholly or in full measure – but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the country from the ramparts of Red Fort for the 10th consecutive time. He started his speech by referring to 140 crore Indians as 'parivar jan' (family members). 

"The largest democracy of the world and now also the leading country in terms of population. Such a large country, 140 crore members of my family are celebrating Independence Day today," said PM Modi, kicking off his speech. 

He also went on to heap praises on the country's economic growth under his tenure and vowed to take it to the third spot and also spent a significant portion of his speech, emphasising women-led development. 

While the Red Fort in Delhi has been hosting every prime minister's speech since the country's independence, it was India's first PM who started the tradition in 1947.

Although his address was on August 16, the day after the official handover of power. During his speech, he called himself the 'pratham sevak' of India, in Hindi, which translates to 'first servant'. 

Indian PM Modi hoists the Tricolour from the historical ramparts for the tenth time in a row. 

The national flag unfurling was synchronised with the 21 Gun Salute by the gunners of the elite 8711 Field Battery. 

After the national flag was unfurled, the Tricolour received a ‘Rashtriya Salute’.

While Red Fort, in the national capital, has long been the site for the country's Independence Day celebrations, contrary to popular belief, our national flag was not unfurled for the first time at the historic monument. 

In fact, it happened at the Princess Park near India Gate in New Delhi on August 15, 1947.

This was after the midnight session of the Constituent Assembly, on August 14, which decided to give the post of interim governor-general to Louis Mountbatten.

However, while the leaders tried exiting the building, the crowd was so thick that they found it extremely difficult to leave.

On August 15, 1947, Mountbatten took oath as the first governor-general of independent India and went to attend an event at Roshanara Bagh.

The main event was planned at Princess Park, where Nehru was to lower the Union Jack and hoist the Tricolour.

However, since Nehru wanted August 15 as a happy day for everyone and felt that if lowering of the Union Jack would have offended British susceptibility then he would made sure it didn’t happen, according to Lord Mountbatten. 

Therefore, India's first Prime Minister unfurled the national flag Tricolour at Princess Park that day, and on August 16, 1947, at the Red Fort. 

People in large numbers gather at the Kartavya Path on the occasion of the 77th Independence Day, in New Delhi, Tuesday, Aug 15, 2023.

The image taken on 15 August 1947, shows crowds of revellers gather to celebrate independence from Britain around Rasina Hill in New Delhi.