The Ministry of Culture organized “TirangaUtsav” to celebrate the contributions of Pingali Venkayya to the nation on the occasion of his 146th Birth Anniversary in New Delhi on August 2.
The commemorative Postal Stamp in the honor of Pingali Venkayya was released by Shri Amit Shah during the event.
The Tiranga Utsav also witnessed the release of ‘Amar Chitra Katha’ in the memory of revolutionary Tribal fighters of Indian freedom struggle.
Who was Pingali Venkayya?
- Pingali Venkayya was born in a small village near Machilipatnam to Hanumantaraidu and Venkatratanama and belonged to a traditional Telugu Brahmin family.
- His fluency in Japanese earned him the name of “Japan Venkayya.”
- He was also known as Patti Venkayya because of his research into the Cambodia Cotton. Patti means ‘cotton’, which was very important for Machilipatnam, a former port city that became famous for its Kalamkari handloom weaves.
- At the age of 19, Venkayya joined the army during the Boer war. It was during this stint in the British Army that Venkayya met Mahatma Gandhi in Africa. Their association would last over 50 years.
- He wrote a book titled “National Flag for India,” which was published in 1916. The book showcased thirty designs of what could make the Indian flag.
- In 1921, Venkayya presented the first draft design of the flag to Mahatma Gandhi at the AICC session held at Bezwada.
- The first draft designed by Venkayya had two predominant colours: green and red. On top of them was a spinning wheel of the Gandhi Chakra in blue.
- Gandhi took the design with him and acknowledged it in one of his editorials in Young India in 1921.
- Before being accepted as the Congress party’s flag, the colour red was replaced with saffron and the colour white was also added.
- The design of the Charkha was also changed, and it now sat on the white strip between the saffron and green bands.
- Later, the Gandhi Charkha was replaced by the Ashoka Chakra when the design for the tricolour was finalised. Venkayya was posthumously honoured with a postage stamp in 2009 for his contribution to the Indian freedom struggle.
