Berhampur: Hoisting the national flag is a matter of pride and patriotism for all. Normally, the tricolour is hoisted on special dates like the January 26 (Republic Day) or the August 15 (Independence Day). But Courtpeta Square in Berhampur town is different from others as it hoists the national flag on a daily basis, without fail.
Every morning at 8 am, few people gather at the Courtpeta Square in Berhampur town’s Ganjam district and unfurl the tricolour while chanting ‘Bharat mata ki jay’. The ceremony ends with singing the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in unison while saluting the nation.
The practice is being followed for almost a year now. After the brief ‘show of respect to the nation’ people leave for their respective work.
One Ram Kumar Patra, who has been given the responsibility to unfurl the tricolour, is happy that with the amendment in the flag code, now everyone is eligible to hoist the flag. “Earlier there used to be some restrictions regarding flying tricolour. After the amendments in the flag code, a common man can hoist the National Flag on his house or institution,” Patra said.
Patra also threw some light on how the entire practice started. “Some denizens and I would come to the Jagannath temple at Courtpeta square to have a darshan of the deities every day. One day during a formal chit chat among us, we thought of hoisting the tricolor and we unanimously took the decision to do so. And it was the Independence Day last year when we materialised our decision and hoisted the tricolour. Since then we didn’t miss a single day to show our respect to the nation,” Patra narrated.
The ceremony gained momentum with the passage of time. From a handful of individuals, now more people started joining them. Even the priest of the Jagannath temple is seen taking part in unfurling the national flag.
“We come to the spot at about 7.30 am. Then we do some preparations like cleaning the spot. Passersby too halt here for some time and some even join us,” Patra said. “We are happy to see more and more people are joining us and a sense of love for motherland and brotherhood instilling in them,” he added.
According to the temple priests Santosh Mishra and Maheswar Pani, lowering of the national flag is much more important than hoisting it. “Here, the flag is lowered just at 5pm. We are following all the rules mentioned in the ‘Flag Code of India’ while handling, hoisting and lowering of the triclour,” they said.
PNN