The Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath has decided to celebrate Deepavali, which marks the return of Lord Ram from Lanka after spending 14 years in exile, in all its grandeur for three days from 3 to 5 November at Ayodhya, reported Times of India.
The Yogi government has planned to celebrate this year on the lines of last year’s event, as last year more than one lakh diyas were lit on the ghats of the Sarayu River following a day-long celebration. It is reported that this year Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, along with UP governor Ram Naik and the entire state cabinet will be present in Ayodhya for the Deepavali celebrations.
According to the reports, the government has already roped in a number of professional organisations to make arrangements for this grand event. Last year, the event was managed by the tourism department of the state. The decision to involve professional event managers has been taken by the government, as the celebrations will be held for three days instead of one day and the scale of the event is much larger compared to the last year.
Adding to this, the Bharatiya Janata Party has also planned to celebrate the festival in 1,800 villages which were electrified only after Yogi Adityanath came to power in Uttar Pradesh. A senior party leader said that the most of the villages electrified belong to the districts of Bijnor, Bareily, Bulandshahr, Mainpuri, Muzaffarnagar from the Western Uttar Pradesh.
Vice-president of state BJP unit JPS Rathore said, “Power supply reached these villages after 71 years of independence all due to the efforts of Yogi government. The aim of celebrating Diwali is to spread the message that the BJP government is consistently working towards the development of all the areas that were neglected by the earlier governments”. It is said that MLAs and MPs are advised to visit their respective constituencies to celebrate Deepavali and to distribute sweets among the residents.
Apart from the celebrations, on the eve of Deepavali, Yogi Adityanath will also lay the foundation for the 108-meter statue of Lord Ram to be built in Ayodhya. According to the reports, the UP CM would lay the foundation of the statue on ‘Deepotsav’, organised on the eve of the festival. The Diwali will be celebrated on November 7th, while the foundation will be laid on 6th of November.
Diwali, or Deepavali, is the Hindu festival of lights, symbolises the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance”.
