100-ft monumental Tricolour hoisted in Kullu

A historic feat was established on the sixth and last day of the International Dussehra Festival at Kullu on Tuesday, when Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh hoisted a 100-feet-high monumental National Flag in Devsadan Compex. 

Dedicated to soldiers, the National Flag is not only the first-of-its-kind in Himachal Pradesh, but with this Kullu has joined the select 63 places in the country where a 100-feet or even higher flags have been hoisted.

The size of the National Flag is 20 ft x 30 ft and weighs 9 kg. The flag is made of knitted polyester fabric called ‘denier polyester’ and was manufactured in Mumbai.  Unlike other national flags, the Monumental Flag is not required to be lowered at sunset and will remain fully illuminated during night.

Deputy Commissioner of Kullu Rakesh Kanwar said the decision on monumental flags was taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs on December 23, 2009, which allows the hoisting of National Flag at 100-ft or even higher day and night with proper illumination. The flag, he told had been got installed from the authorised vendor of the Flag Foundation of India. The chief minister also laid the foundation stone of an auditorium and cultural complex dedicated to dev sanskriti and also inaugurated a museum called ‘Dev Sanghralaya’. 

Kanwar said the auditorium complex would be built at a cost of Rs 13.38 crore and will have a capacity of accommodating 680 people. The CM also participated in the traditional folk dance with locals. Later, Singh released three books titled ‘Timeless Echoes’, an anthology on Kullu containing excerpts by travellers to the valley during the past 1,400 years; ‘The Sacred Journey’, a coffee table book, and the third on Kullu cuisine edited and compiled by Himachali writer and poet Meenakshi Chaudhary.

The installation of the monumental flag cost the District Cultural Council Rs 14 lakh,  to which the Central PSU, NHPC (National Hydro-electric Power Corporation contributed Rs 6 lakh, said AK Singh, general manager of the company.

Teams from eight countries – Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bali, Taiwan and Nepal, many states, and all 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh performed cultural shows.