Millions of Indians celebrated Diwali on Sunday with a Guinness World Record number of bright earthen oil lamps as concerns about air pollution soared in the South Asian country.
Across the country, dazzling multi-colored lights decked homes and streets as devotees celebrated the annual Hindu festival of light symbolizing the victory of light over darkness.
But the spectacular and much-awaited massive lighting of the oil lamps took place — as usual —at Saryu River, in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state, the birthplace of their most revered deity, the god Ram.
At dusk on Saturday, devotees lit over 2.22 million lamps and kept them burning for 45 minutes as Hindu religious hymns filled the air at the banks of the river, setting a new world Record. Last year, over 1.5 million earthen lamps were lit.
The prime minister, his wife Akshata Murty, their two daughters and his parents joined worshippers during the ceremony of Aarti, lighting candles and offering prayers.
Addressing the crowd, Mr Sunak said it was "wonderful to be back home in Southampton".
"I have so many happy memories of my time here as a kid," he said. "This was the place the values my parents raised me with were reinforced - the importance of family, faith and service, education and hard work.
"Looking around, I'm inspired there is a whole new generation raised with those same values."
With few temples in the south of England, the event in Southampton attracted Hindus from other areas including Dorset and the Isle of Wight.
"As we mark Diwali, we also recognize the many contributions of Canadians from Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist communities to our country's cultural fabric, and we celebrate their role in making Canada the diverse and inclusive place we call home," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement on Sunday.
Trudeau, in a separate statement, also wished happy Bandi Chhor Divas to those celebrating, saying, "This holiday is a reminder that when we come together as a society, we can achieve a world that stands for peace, freedom, and community."
The Babri Masjid mosque was destroyed by a Hindu mob with pickaxes and crowbars in December 1992, sparking massive Hindu-Muslim violence that left some 2,000 people dead, most of them Muslims. The Supreme Court's verdict in 2019 allowed a temple to be built in place of the demolished mosque.
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