Grand laser show in Ayodhya to mark Deepotsav celebrations ahead of Diwali

The Deepotsav event is being organised by the department of tourism and culture in collaboration with the district administration, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be the chief guest.

Ahead of Diwali, a dazzling laser show added splendour to the "Deepotsav" celebrations in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya on Friday. A video shared by news agency ANI shows colourful laser lights blazing over the night sky.

The Deepotsav event is being organised by the department of tourism and culture in collaboration with the district administration, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be the chief guest. Earlier this week, Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Ayodhya to review preparations. He also reviewed the security arrangements on Friday.

The three-day celebrations began on Friday, and will conclude with lighting of over 17 lakh diyas (earthen lamps) at the Ram Ki Paidi ghat on Sunday as part of an attempt to set a Guinness World record. On Friday, the chief minister said that the Ayodhya Deepotsav celebrations have been scaling new heights with the lighting of a record number of earthen lamps (diyas) every year.

With PM Modi's presence, he further asserted, this year's celebrations would be historic and unprecedented. Apart from crowd management, he also spoke of alertness in all adjoining districts of Ayodhya, including Basti, Gonda, Barabanki, Ambedkar Nagar and others.

The temple town has been beautified with hoardings and banners from the Ramayana period to take the visitors down history lanes on the festival of lights, news agency ANI reported. Some welcome gates have been named 'Ram Setu Dwar' and others as 'Bharat Dwar'. These gates have been prepared in the name of every mythological character associated with Rama including Sita Dwar, Shabari Dwar, Ahilya Dwar, Jatayu Dwar, Hanuman Dwar, and Lavkush Dwar.