Even with Republic Day celebrations two days away, Ranchi was gripped in a wave of patriotic fervour as biggest Indian Tricolour in the world was unfurled by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at Pahari Mandir premises on Saturday morning.
The flag, 66 feet wide and 99 feet long, attracted attention of commuters more than 2 kilometres away from Ranchi Pahari, where it was hoisted by the Defence Minister in presence of Governor Droupadi Murmu and Chief Minister Raghubar Das. People travelling along Harmu Bypass road and connecting arteries stopped to marvel at the national flag waving lazily in the morning breeze atop a flag pole 293 feet tall, the tallest in the country.
The hill temple was thronged all day long by people eager to watch the biggest Indian national flag unfurl for the first time, many of them holding smaller replicas of the record-making Tricolour. Even after the inauguration ceremony was over, denizens of Ranchi visited Ranchi Pahari to watch the national flag firsthand.
As many of the schools had their classes suspended on the 119th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, school-going children accompanied by their parents came in huge numbers to see the flag.
Those not present in temple premises for the inauguration ceremony or after it captured the image with their camera phones. Pictures and videos of world’s biggest national flag began doing the rounds at social networking websites a little while after it was inaugurated.
Similar enthusiasm was shown by audiences during the main event at Birsa Munda Football Stadium where more than 20,000 people, comprising mostly of school and college students, cadets of National Cadet Corps (NCC) and youngsters, celebrated the inauguration of the biggest Tricolour. The young patriots amidst the crowd seemed positive about the changes this landmark will bring about for the city and state.
Pappu Kumar, a 13-year old NCC cadet of 3rd Jharkhand Battalion and an aspiring army officer from Don Bosco School, was of the opinion that it will inculcate the feeling of patriotism among the youth of the city. “This will encourage the younger generation to serve the country to the best of their capabilities. It will also bring recognition for Ranchi and Jharkhand around the globe,” said the NCC cadet.
His classmate Deepu Kumar opined this to be crucial step towards developing Ranchi as a tourism spot. “Now tourists from all over the world will have another attraction to visit when they come to Ranchi. This will add to the efforts being made to put the state and the capital city on the world tourism map,” he said.