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Ayodhya all set for grandest Deepotsav on Nov 11
U.P. chief minister Yogi Adityanath will light the first earthen lamp (diya) at Ram Ki Paidi ghat and set the process in motion to create a Guinness Book of World Record
Ayodhya is all set for the grandest Deepotsav celebrations on Saturday before Ram temple is opened for devotees in January next year. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will light the first earthen lamp (diya) at Ram Ki Paidi ghat and set the process in motion to create a Guinness Book of World Record. Thereafter, volunteers will light lamps at all ghats of Ayodhya. This event will take place after sunset at around 6pm.
To welcome Lord Ram, the Ayodhya administration will aim to set a new Guinness Book of World record by lighting 21 lakh earthen lamps (diyas) on Ram Ki Paidi and 50 other ghats of Ayodhya. For this, 24 lakh diyas have been laid at 51 ghats of Ayodhya.
Ayodhya has always been the focal point for the Yogi Adityanath government ever since it came to power in March 2017. Since then, Deepotsav celebrations (seventh this time) in Ayodhya have been the hallmark of the Yogi government.
More than 25,000 volunteers of Ram Manohar Lohiya Awadh University, Faizabad, and all colleges of Ayodhya are working round the clock to make the mega event successful. The Awadh University is the nodal agency for organising the event.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who is also the peethadheeshwar of the Gorakshnath Peeth in Gorakhpur, will welcome Lord Ram, his brother Lakshman and Goddess Sita at Ram Katha Park. All three will descend on Ayodhya by a chopper resembling the return of Lord Ram from Lanka after defeating demon king Ravana.
Governor Anandiben Patel will also be present there along with ministers of the state cabinet. The ghat will shimmer in a laser show displaying various episodes of the Ramayana. Last year, 15. 76 lakh diyas illuminated ghats in Ayodhya on Deepotsav setting a Guinness Book of World Record. This year, the Ayodhya administration will aim to break this record by lighting 21 lakh diyas.
On this Deepotsav, devotees will find Ayodhya donning an altogether new look. The entire stretch of the road from Naya Ghat to Hanuman Garhi temple is no more a narrow stretch of single lane. Instead, a four-lane road aptly named Ram Path will welcome devotees.
Prof Sant Sharan Mishra, nodal officer of Deepotsav, said cops and university security personnel will safeguard the lamps at 51 ghats. “On Deepotsav day from 10 am onwards, volunteers will pour oil in over 24 lakh diyas under the supervision of various officials,” said Mishra.
“Officials of the Guinness Book of World Record will be present in each ghat to oversee the counting of lamps,” he added.
Each volunteer has been given a one litre bottle of mustard oil to fill 30 diyas. Special precaution will be taken to prevent oil spillage on the ghats. After filling diyas with oil, camphor powder will be applied to the wick’s front part, facilitating the lighting process. Coordinators have been provided candles, matchsticks and other necessary materials at each ghat.
