2 yıl önce

In pictures: Indians celebrate Diwali festival

Millions of Indians thronged crowded bazaars for shopping, bringing back the Diwali cheer that was dampened during the last two years due to coronavirus restrictions.

AP

Many light earthen oil lamps or candles, and fireworks are set off as part of the celebrations.

Indians celebrate Diwali as bright earthen oil lamps and dazzling, colourful lights lit up homes and streets across the country to mark the Hindu festival that symbolises the victory of light over darkness.

Ahead of Monday's celebrations, cities and towns across the country were decked with colourful lights.

AP

Diwali, which is a national holiday across India, is typically celebrated by socialising and exchanging gifts with family and friends.

Many light earthen oil lamps or candles, and fireworks are set off as part of the celebrations.

In the evening, a special prayer is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who is believed to bring luck and prosperity.

AP

Over the past few years, Diwali celebrations are tinged with worries over air pollution, which typically shrouds northern India

Millions of Indians thronged crowded bazaars for shopping, bringing back the Diwali cheer that was dampened during the last two years due to coronavirus restrictions.

The markets buzzed with eager shoppers buying flowers, lanterns and candles meant to decorate houses and offices.

AP

Many light earthen oil lamps or candles, and fireworks are set off as part of the celebrations.

As dusk fell on Sunday, over 1.5 million earthen lamps were lit and kept burning for 45 minutes at Ram ki Paidi, at the banks of Saryu River in the northern city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state, retaining the Guinness World Record it set last year.

Senior government official Nitish Kumar said that over 22,000 volunteers, the majority of them college students, ensured that lamps burned for the prescribed time to break the last year’s record of 900,000 oil lamps.

AP

The markets buzzed with eager shoppers buying flowers, lanterns and candles meant to decorate houses and offices.

Hindus believe that the deity Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya, where he returned after 14 years in exile. To celebrate his return, people light earthen lamps.

The holy city was decked with fairy lights ahead of the event and a laser and fireworks show illuminated its lanes and river banks.

Thousands of residents also lit lamps at their houses and temples across the city.

The stunning spectacle along the shores of Saryu River was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Amid chants of Hindu religious hymns, Modi lit an earthen lamp and performed “aarti” — a customary Hindu ritual that involves waving lighted lamps in front of an idol.

Some Indian states, including the capital New Delhi, have banned sales of fireworks and imposed other restrictions to stem the pollution.

Authorities have also urged residents to light “green crackers” that emit less pollutants than normal firecrackers. But similar bans have often been flouted in the past.

SOURCE: AP