National flag hoisted on 1947 Indian Independence Day still hoisted at Kalmadi's house

Udupi/Malpe: The national flag hoisted on the occasion of India’s first Independence Day is still being kept safely in a house in Kalmadi.

The flag was first mounted in 1947 by late K Gopalakrishna Gundu Nayak atop his shop in Udupi’s Santhekatte. After his demise, his son K Manohar Nayak continues the tradition of hoisting the flag at his home every year on August 15.

Being unmarried, Manohar, now 88 years old, presently lives with the family of his sister Revathy Shenai in Kalmadi. He recalls that his father, Gopalakrishna, had arranged boarding facilities for volunteers during Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to Udupi in 1934, inviting the ire of the British who imprisoned him for 4 days.

Coordinator of Gandhi Study Center at MGM College, Vineet Rao said the probability that that the flag was unfurled during India’s Independence is quite high. Before the Constituent Assembly adopted the Ashoka Chakra flag on July 22, 1947, there was a Swaraj flag with the Charaka symbol. The same can be found on the flag hoisted by Nayak, Rao said.

In 1947 there was no flag code. There was no flag distribution system like now. Therefore, there is a high possibility that this was a Swaraj Flag, Rao added.