2023-11-12 08:02:02
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Millions of Indians celebrated Diwali on Sunday with a new Guiness Record number of oil lamps lit, as concerns grew in the South Asian country about air pollution.
Across the country, colorful lights graced streets and homes as devotees celebrated the annual Hindu festival, which symbolizes the victory of light over darkness.
But the spectacular and long-awaited lighting of the oil lamps took place, as usual, in the Saryu River, in the city of Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, considered the birthplace of its most revered deity, Ram.
At dusk on Saturday, devotees lit more than 2.22 million earthen lamps and kept them lit for 45 minutes while Hindu religious hymns were played on the banks of the river, setting a new record. Last year more than 1.5 million clay lamps were lit.
After counting the lamps, the representatives of the Guinness Book of Records presented a certificate to the highest elected representative of the state, Yogi Adityanath.
About 24,000 volunteers, mostly university students, helped prepare the new record, said Pratibha Goyal, vice-chancellor of the Doctor Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University in Ayodhya.
Diwali, a national holiday in India, is celebrated with social events and gift exchanges with friends and family. Many clay lamps or candles are lit, and fireworks are set off. At night a special prayer is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who is believed to offer luck and prosperity.
Over the weekend, authorities enabled additional trains for the large number of people trying to get home to join family celebrations.
The festival was held amid growing concerns about water quality in India. Last week, a “dangerous” level of air quality was recorded that exceeded more than 10 times the global safe threshold for airborne particles, and which can cause severe bronchitis and water and asthma attacks. But on Saturday, unexpected rain and strong winds improved the levels, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
Pollution was expected to spike again after the celebrations ended on Sunday night, due to the large number of fireworks used.
Last week, authorities in New Delhi closed primary schools and banned the use of polluting vehicles and construction sites for a few days, in an attempt to reduce the worst smog and smog event of the season, which caused respiratory problems and engulfed monuments and tall buildings in and around the Indian capital.
Authorities used smog sprayers and water cannons to control the mix of smoke, fog and suspended particles, and many people wore masks to protect themselves.
New Delhi almost every year tops the list of many Indian cities with poor air quality, especially in winter, when the burning of agricultural waste in neighboring states coincides with colder temperatures that trap smoke.
Some Indian states have banned the sale of fireworks or imposed other restrictions to control pollution. People have also been urged to use cleaner alternatives to standard pyrotechnic items. But in the past, those kinds of rules have often been ignored.
This year’s Diwali celebrations came as authorities prepared to inaugurate, after lengthy construction, a temple of the Hindu god Ram in January on the site where the 16th-century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya was demolished.
The Babri Masjid mosque was destroyed by a Hindu mob with pickaxes and crowbars in December 1992, triggering a huge outbreak of violence between Hindus and Muslims that left around 2,000 dead, most of them Muslims. A Supreme Court verdict in 2019 allowed the temple to be built on the site of the demolished mosque.
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