CM Fadnavis hoists flag at Mantralaya on Independence Day
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
The tricolour rose over Mantralaya, Mumbai on the morning of 15 August 2026 as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis led Maharashtra's official Independence Day flag-hoisting ceremony — the state's most visible salute to Bharat Mata on the anniversary of India's freedom.
The flag flies over Maharashtra's seat of power
Mantralaya — the nerve centre of Maharashtra's government on Nariman Point — becomes the focal point of the state's Independence Day observance every year. The Chief Minister presides over the flag-hoisting as the highest constitutional ceremony conducted at the secretariat, mirroring the pattern followed simultaneously at state capitals and district headquarters across India.
Devendra Fadnavis, a senior BJP leader who has served multiple terms as Maharashtra's Chief Minister, performed the formal dhvjarohan (flag-hoisting) before assembled state officials and dignitaries. The Chief Minister's Office broadcast the ceremony live on X, with the post carrying the national salute 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' — 'Victory to Mother India'.
A ritual woven into the republic's calendar
India's Independence Day on 15 August marks the nation's freedom from British rule in 1947 — a date that triggers a uniform national protocol: the Prime Minister hoists the tricolour at Red Fort in Delhi, while every Chief Minister replicates the ceremony at their state secretariat. Maharashtra's observance at Mantralaya is among the most watched of these state-level ceremonies, given the city's scale and symbolic weight.
Parallel flag-hoisting events unfold at every district headquarters across Maharashtra, extending the republic's ritual from the financial capital to its remotest corners.