NEW DELHI, Oct 19: Two new Guinness World Records were set on Sunday in the holy city of Ayodhya as over 26 lakh earthen diyas were lit during “deepotsav” at the same place and 2,128 people performed ‘aarti’ together. The record was registered after 26,17,215 earthen diyas were lit on the occasion.
The Ramkatha Park in Ayodhya reverberated with devotion on Sunday.
The record was announced by the representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records who verified the count of the lit diyas with the help of drones, according to an official statement.
The Guinness certificate was presented to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath by the state’s tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh and principal secretary Amrit Abhijat.
The display of lit earthen diyas, the largest ever so far, was presented jointly by the UP Department of Tourism, the Ayodhya administration, and the Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University.
Earlier in the day, a huge procession was also taken out in Ayodhya on the occasion of deepotsav and chhoti Diwali on Sunday, in which, as many as 22 tableaux were presented. The procession was witnessed by hundreds of devotees along the Rampath amid the chants of Jai Shri Ram. The procession was taken out by the Information Department, Ayodhya Development Authority, and Tourism and Culture Department.
The tableaux procession depicted the journey of Lord Ram through Ramayana’s seven chapters — Balakanda, Ayodhyakanda, Aranyakanda, Kishkindhakanda, Sundarkanda, Lankakanda, and Uttarakanda. Yogi Adityanath also performed aarti at the Saryu river.
Sharing pictures from the occasion, Adityanath wrote on X, “On the sacred occasion of the divine and grand ‘Deepotsav-2025’, today I had the good fortune to perform the aarti of Mother Saryu at Dharmadhara Shri Ayodhya Dham. May Mother Saryu pave the way for happiness, peace, prosperity, and welfare in the lives of all people—this is my prayer. Jai Maa Saryu!”
(Manas Dasgupta)