More than 22 lakh earthen lamps were lit on the banks of the Saryu River in Ayodhya on the seventh edition of the Deepotsav which has been recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Ayodhya Deepotsav: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday shared a video on his official X handle showing a few children taking out oil from the earthen lamps at a ghat and pouring it inside utensils that they presumably brought along with them. On Saturday, 22 lakh “diyas (earthen lamps)” were illuminated at the banks of the Saryu River in Ayodhya on the eve of Diwali.

Akhilesh Yadav’s post read in Hindi: दिव्यता के बीच दरिद्रता… जहाँ ग़रीबी दीयों से तेल ले जाने के लिए मजबूर करे, वहाँ उत्सव का प्रकाश धुंधला हो जाता है। हमारी तो यही कामना है कि एक ऐसा पर्व भी आये, जिसमें सिर्फ़ घाट नहीं, हर ग़रीब का घर भी जगमगाए। (Poverty amidst divinity. Where poverty forces one to carry oil from lamps, the light of celebration becomes dim. Our only wish is that such a festival comes in which not only the ghat but also the house of every poor gets illuminated.)

दिव्यता के बीच दरिद्रता… जहाँ ग़रीबी दीयों से तेल ले जाने के लिए मजबूर करे, वहाँ उत्सव का प्रकाश धुंधला हो जाता है।

हमारी तो यही कामना है कि एक ऐसा पर्व भी आये, जिसमें सिर्फ़ घाट नहीं, हर ग़रीब का घर भी जगमगाए। pic.twitter.com/hNS8w9z96B

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 11, 2023

To recall, more than 22 lakh earthen lamps were lit on the banks of the Saryu River in Ayodhya on the seventh edition of the Deepotsav which has been recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as a world record.

The 22.23 lakh earthen lamps 6.47 lakh more than last year, were lit by 25,000 volunteers at the 51 ghats of Ram Ki Paidi along the Saryu River as Ayodhya reverberated with the chants of “Jai Shri Ram” after the representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records counted the lamps using drones and registered it as a world record.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati in a post on Sunday on X greeted the people on Diwali. She wrote: देश एवं दुनिया भर में रहने वाले समस्त भारतीय भाई-बहनों व उनके परिवार वालों को दीपावली पर्व के साथ-साथ भैयादूज की हार्दिक बधाई तथा लोगों की ज़िन्दगी ख़ुश और ख़ुशहाल हो इसकी सभी को ढेरों शुभकामनायें। (Hearty congratulations to all the Indian brothers and sisters and their families living in the country and across the world on the occasion of Diwali as well as Bhaiya Dooj and many best wishes to all for a happy and prosperous life.)

देश एवं दुनिया भर में रहने वाले समस्त भारतीय भाई-बहनों व उनके परिवार वालों को दीपावली पर्व के साथ-साथ भैयादूज की हार्दिक बधाई तथा लोगों की ज़िन्दगी ख़ुश और ख़ुशहाल हो इसकी सभी को ढेरों शुभकामनायें।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) November 12, 2023

On Saturday, a Shobha Yatra was flagged off by Uttar Pradesh’s Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh that featured actors portraying Lord Ram, Laxman, and Sita walking with the processions.

(With PTI inputs)