7,500 sqft Tricolour displayed at Srinagar's Dal Lake on Independence Day

The tourism ministry said the flag display was done in a joint effort with the Institute of Hotel Management Srinagar and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling.

In a joint effort with two educational institutions, the tourism ministry on Monday displayed a 7,500 sqft national flag at the bank of Srinagar's famous Dal Lake as part of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranaga’ campaign to celebrate the 76th Independence Day of India.

Before arriving in Srinagar, the national flag was displayed in Bengal's Darjeeling on August 8 on the occasion of 80 years of Quit India Movement. (PIB/Tourism ministry)

In a statement, the ministry said it collaborated with the Institute of Hotel Management Srinagar and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling, for the flag display. Lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha was the chief guest at the event and addressed to the gathering.

The flag also weighed between 80 and 85 kg with supporting elements. The tourism ministry said the team from HMI had displayed the same flag for the first time in Sikkim in April last year, and subsequently at Kolkata's iconic Victoria Memorial on August 15, 2021. The same Tricolour was then displayed at Gujarat's Statue of Unity on October 31, 2021.

Not just in India, the same national flag was then displayed in Antarctica as well, setting the world record for the largest national flag of any country displayed for the first time in the continent.

Before arriving in Srinagar, the flag was displayed in Darjeeling on August 8 on the occasion of 80 years of Quit India Movement. “Since the flag is so huge in size, it was made in three panels. Special attention was given to its stability factor and safety anchors were appropriately fitted so that the Flag can withstand the weather extremities from high-velocity mountain winds to the subzero temperature of Antarctica and also other extreme weather elements,” the ministry statement added.

India celebrated 76th Independence Day earlier on Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurling the Tricolour at Delhi's Red Fort.