The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘Largest’ tri-colour unveiled

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 16, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘Largest’ tri-colour unveiled

Staff Reporter

Its length is 141 ft, width 94 ft and weighs 102 kg

Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Big is beautiful: A boy waves tiny flags in the backdrop of the ‘biggest’ national flag at the I-Day fete in Chilakaluripet on Friday. —

CHILAKALURIPET: The stage was perfect for the launch of what the organisers claimed as the largest national flag ever made. Scores of bubbling schoolchildren assembled on the large premises witnessing a slew of cultural programmes laced with patriotic fervour.

The flag itself, with gigantic proportions, 141 feet in length and 94 feet in width and weighing 102 kg, was unveiled on the premises of Sadineni Chowdaraiah Residential Public School premises on a cloudy afternoon. Sk. Abdul Rasheed, a tailor and the person behind the monumental effort, dedicated the flag to the differently-abled and said: “They have not been able to enjoy the full fruit of the freedom because of their inability.”

In a brief address, he narrated the sequence of events which spurred him to design the flag, starting from an India-Pakistan cricket match played in Pakistan in 2004, in which Pakistani fans carried a massive flag measuring 14,000 square feet in the stadium.

“I then decided to make use of my talents as a tailor and design the world’s biggest flag. But, I could not complete the task due to financial constraints,” he quipped.

He set out on the mission to roll out the flag in June 2008 and purchased the cloth, a variety of Garden Silk, from Ahmedabad and with the help of his trusted assistants stitched the flag in about a month. “We use to roll out the cloth on the main roads and the work used to start from 10 p.m. and go on till 2 a.m.,” he reminisced.

Chilakaluripet MLA Mari Rajasekhar and personalities from various walks of life witnessed the rare moment and appreciated the efforts of Mr. Rasheed.

The Rotary International pledged its support to his dream of making the world’s largest flag.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh