Four adventure lovers from Maharashtra celebrated the Republic Day in a unique way by hoisting 75 national flags on the 12,500ft Kedarkantha peak in Uttarakhand.
The 4 passionate trekkers
Passionate trekkers Vaibhav Awale, Balkrishna Jadhav, Bikhil Yadav and Sumit Naikdhure decided to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Republic Day at the Kedarkantha peak –one of the only two summit treks in the Himalayas. The fantastic four started their campaign on January 22, the day the consecration ceremony of Ayodhya temple was held, and reached the peak on January 26.
Sumit works with a private company, Nikhi is an engineer and has worked for the environment for the last eight years. Balkrishna is a dedicated trekker and Vaibhav is a businessman.
Passionate trekkers Vaibhav Awale, Balkrishna Jadhav, Bikhil Yadav and Sumit Naikdhure | FPJ
While Vaibhav and Sumit are from Mumbai, Balkrishna and Nikhil hail from Solapur. Since 2018, they have been hoisting the Tricolour on various peaks in India and abroad every August 15. This year, marking the diamond jubilee of the adoption of the Constitution of India, they decided to hoist 75 flags, dedicating each one to a patriot, and reading the “constitutional purpose’ aloud. They carried copies of the Constitution with them.
Their trek began from Sankari village
They began their trek from Sankari village, passing through Govind Wild Vihar, Pine, Devdar, Silver Oak, Golden Dance Forest and slippery roads and reached the top of the peak at 6.20am on January 26, daring minus 12 degrees celsius temperature and strong winds of 6-7km per hour. They took their first halt at ‘Juda ka Talab’ at 9,100ft. The next day, they continued to the base camp at 11,250ft, encountering extreme snow flow and wind.
Vaibhav Awale, Balkrishna Jadhav, Bikhil Yadav and Sumit Naikdhure | FPJ
On January 26, at 2am, they started their final ascent in challenging conditions, reaching the top at 6.20am. Despite biting cold, snowfall and strong winds, they waited for an hour for the sunrise. At 7.20am, they hoisted 75 national flags on the peak, sang the National Anthem and celebrated the day with slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.
Vaibhav Awale, Balkrishna Jadhav, Bikhil Yadav and Sumit Naikdhure | FPJ
On their descent, they walked non-stop 20km and reached Sankari village at 2pm. Sharing the experience, Vaibhav said, "I have trekked among Sahyadri for the last two decades. I have trekked more than 200 forts so far, and apart from that I have climbed various peaks, gone through forest and range tracks. This time was also a very good experience. We four connected due to trekking love."
Peaks they climbed
- 2018 Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa’s tallest mountain) (Indian Book of Record)
- 2019 Mount Elbrus (Russia) (Asian Book of Record)
- 2020 No trek due to Covid
- 2021 Mount Yunam (Manali)
- 2022 Kang Yatse (Ladakh)
- 2023 UT Kangri (Ladakh)
- 2024 Kedarkantha (Ladakh)
