Muzaffarnagar: Around 35 pilgrims from Bulandshahr's Keshopur Sathla undertook the annual pilgrimage, Kanwar Yatra, carrying a 361-feet long tricolour in memory of the martyrs. The Delhi-Dehradun National Highway was seen drenched in the colours of the national flag carried by the pilgrims. Thousands of people came to watch the procession. Earlier, the 35 youths took the pledge to get the longest tricolour in the Kanwar Yatra in order to pay homage to martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country.

After fetching water from River Ganga in Har Ki Pauri of Haridwar, Uttarakhand, the pilgrims are now walking back to their village and will offer 'Gangajal' at a temple in their village. "We love the tricolour and our country. We are proud of the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives while protecting the country," said Moolchand Rajput, one of the devotees carrying the flag.

Another pilgrim, Narendra Saini, said that the purpose of bringing the flag is to remember the martyrs. Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage that is undertaken in the month of Shravan, dedicated to Lord Shiva.

More than 50 lakh people take this journey on foot to travel to Ganga from Gau Mukh Gangotri Dham and Haridwar and get holy water on their journey back to the hometown to offer it to Shiva temples on Shivratri which is on August 9 this year.