Shivraj Chouhan-led Shiv Jyoti Arpanam in Ujjain breaks Ayodhya’s oil lamp record

Madhya Pradesh chief minister announced the BJP-government’s decision to make Mahashivratri memorable this year about three years ago. A team also visited Ayodhya in this context.

BHOPAL/UJJAIN: Madhya Pradesh’s Shiv Jyoti Arpanam festival in Ujjain made it to the list of Guinness World Records on Tuesday, racing ahead of Uttar Pradesh government which lit 9.4 lakh oil lamps in Ayodhya on November 3, 2021.

Earthen lamps lit up at the banks of the Kshipra river as part of the ‘Shiv Jyoti Arpanam Mahotsava’ on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri', in Ujjain on Tuesday. Ujjain created a Guinness record by lighting 11.71 lakh clay lamps. (ANI)

In Ujjain, district collector Asheesh Singh said, 14,000 volunteers simultaneously lit up 11.7 lakh oil lamps on the banks of Kshipra. News agency PTI said more than 11.71 lakh oil lamps, or diyas were lit simultaneously at Ramghat, Datt Akhara, Narsingh Ghat, Guru Nanak Ghat and Sunhari Ghat.

An aerial view of the earthen lamps being lit up along the banks of the Kshipra river as part of the ‘Shiv Jyoti Arpanam Mahotsava’ on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri’, in Ujjain on Tuesday. (ANI)

A five-member team of Guinness World Records confirmed the new record with the help of five drone cameras. A certificate was handed over to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan by the officials at an event held in Ujjain.

Ujjain is home to Mahakaleshwar, one of the 12 jyotirlingas associated with Shiva.

The state government’s culture department hosted a grand event called ‘Shiv Jyoti Arpanam’ in Ujjain, which was executed by the city administration, officials said. The programme, which was organised to beat the record of Deepotsav of Ayodhya, was started after chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan lit eleven lamps.

Devotees light lamps on the banks of the Kshipra river at an event titled ‘Shiv Jyoti Arpanam’, on the occasion of ‘Mahashivratri’, in Ujjain, Tuesday, March 01, 2022. (PTI)

“You have not only created a record by lighting 11,71,878 lamps, but also written the history of this holy occasion in golden letters,” the chief minister said in a tweet accompanied by a picture while accepting the certificate from Guinness World Records officials.

Asheesh Singh, who has been widely credited for getting Indore the cleanest city tag in Swachh Survekshan-2019, has targeted to ensure that the event was eco-friendly and achieved the ‘zero waste’ goal.

The eco-friendly steps taken by the administration included the use of volunteer identity cards made from recycled paper, use of paper matchboxes for lighting the lamps and candles, and that of biodegradable cutlery and plates for food and drink, they said. The earthen lamps will be later reused to make idols, pots, kulhads (tea cups) among other things. Oil bottles too will be recycled, PTI said, quoting unnamed officials.