The whole world is fighting a pandemic that is testing human spirit to its core, but humans are known to even survive ice age due to their resilience to overcome the most difficult situations.
In one such display of human spirit, the Indian flag has been projected onto the Matterhorn mountain in the Swiss Alps. It is a part of a breathtaking light illumination series as part of an exercise to spread strength during the testing time of coronavirus pandemic.
As part of the illumination series, renowned Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter has been lighting up the 14,690 feet mountain with spectacular visuals of country flags and messages of hope to inspire solidarity as people stand up to the frightening spread of the deadly pandemic.
The Indian tricolor flag was the latest to be illuminated onto the jagged mountain on Friday night, which stands alone on the horizon amid the border between Switzerland and Italy.
Images of the projection, nearly 800 meters high, were tweeted by Indian Foreign Service Officer Gurleen Kaur. “Friendship from Himalayas to Alps. Thank You,” the officer tweeted.
The beaming of light projection has started since March 24 from a distance of 4 km from the projection point onto the north and east faces of the mountain.
The words “hope”, “solidarity” and “stay home” have since been projected onto the peak, along with a giant red heart on a white background — in the Swiss national colors.
The flags of Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Swiss region of Ticino were also beamed onto the mountain on Wednesday night.
Dominating the skyline, the light artist Hofstetter said the Matterhorn stands out like a lighthouse, which triggered the idea of beaming out messages.
“Light is hope. So if you do a message with light in such a situation as we are in now, you give that hope — especially with this iconic, standalone, pyramid-shaped, incredibly strong mountain,” he said.
“The Matterhorn was here before mankind was.
“You can go back in history, two, three or four thousand years; when they had the disease, it was art that brought people together for hope and looking for a brighter future once again. Only art can do this.”
The Matterhorn overlooks the ski resort of Zermatt deep down in the valley below. The normally-bustling town is devoid of tourists, hotels and holiday homes largely empty. The starry night is eerily quiet.
Switzerland, which has registered more than 18,000 cases and 430 deaths from COVID-19, has shut schools, bars, restaurants, and non-food shops in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.
Around the world, more than two million people are known to have been infected, while over 150,000 lives have been lost in the pandemic.
