Mangaluru: Come Independence Day 2015, Mangaluru will be in the headline news and will make history as the first City in Karnataka State to hoist/unfurl the largest “Tiranga”-the mighty tricolor Indian National flag. Saraswat Education Society, based in Mangaluru for the last 145 years is all gearing up for the biggest Independence Day celebration in the City, by unfurling the 305m long Indian tricolor flag- and to do this honor will be DK Deputy Commissioner AB Ibrahim.
The 305m long flag will be unfurled at 7.45am on Saturday, 15 August by the DC on the Ganapathy High School Road near Sharavu Mahaganapathy Temple junction. After unfurling the flag, more than 1000 students belonging to Ganapathy English Medium School, Parijnana PU College, Anandashram School, and Ganapathy PU College will assemble together to hold the flag. One end of the 305m long flag will be held by students on one flank of the road from Sri Mahalakshmi Ganapathi Temple junction and the other end of the flag will be held by the students stationed near Hampankatta Circle.
Speaking to mangalorean.com AS Ramachandra Rao-CEO of Saraswat Education Society (SES) said, ” This flag which is suppose to be the largest in the State will revive the spirit of Independence and also remember the people who sacrificed for the nation. The ‘Tiranga’ which represents the hopes and aspirations of the people of India is an embodiment of our national pride. SES dedicated towards the transformation of the Education, social and cultural life of students has taken on the onus of unfurling this large flag. The students are all excited to hold this flag on Independence Day. The flag was stitched by a Hyderabad-based company which took nearly four weeks to finish it. The company had done the field test before shipping it to us, fabric used for the flag is as per the Flag code, and all rules laid down in the Flag Code, 1950 have been strictly followed in order to unfurl this flag on Independence Day”.
Rao further said, ” And since our Ganapathy PU College NSS Unit was adjudged the best unit out of the nearly 4000 Pre-University Colleges in the State, and also that our school’s Scouts and Guides team was adjudged the best march past team at a Scouts and Guides Meet, the Society Board members decided to something unique for the forthcoming Independence Day. With the help of donations from financial institutions and well-wishers, the Society was able to come up with this mega Tiranga. While thanking everyone who had made this flag possible, Rao said, “The largest Tiranga, given the universal affection, respect for, and loyalty to the National Flag, would be a symbol of the country’s patriotic zeal. It is our proud privilege and honour to hoist the Tiranga in the august company of our respected guests. I am extremely grateful to the SES committee members, management, staff and students of all our Education Institutions, and the general public for their support at this proud moment that would go down in the history of Mangaluru. I request everyone to come in large numbers and join in our celebrations”.
About ‘Tiranga’:
Indian National Flag, the mighty tricolor or the ‘Tiranga’, stands mainly as a symbol of freedom. The first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawarlal Nehru called it,”a flag not only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom to all people”. The flag, as we all know, contains three colors which are saffron, white and green.
Saffron:
Saffron mainly stands for renunciation, dis-interestedness, courage and sacrifice. Former president of India Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan had explained that,”Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work”. The saffron color has been traditional colour of ancient India. Saffron, in general, represents fire or ‘Agni’ and is often used to symbolise sacrifice and renunciation.
White:
White colour symbolizes the ‘truth, peace and purity’. White is often seen as a symbol of light. Dr. S Radhakrishnan here held the view that the ‘white’ is that light which leads us to the path of truth and guides our conduct.
Green:
The colour green is often associated with nature. It symbolizes our relation to the soil. The green is symbol of fertility, the fertile soil that gives life to plants on which all other lives depend. Green represents the auspiciousness of the land.
Ashoka Chakra:
The Ashoka Chakra represents ‘Dharma’ or righteousness and the progressive movement. The chakra is considered to be the wheel of law of ‘Dharma’. The chakra reminds us that the those who work under the symbol of this flag have to follow their work principle and keep on moving in that direction, because stagnation brings no progress.