IN PHOTOS: How Mumbai gears up for the festival of lights

As the city that never sleeps prepares to usher in the festival of lights, Nadisha Daniel captures the celebratory mood on camera.

Amid the bustle of Mumbai, the City Light market in central Mumbai is always overflowing with stalls selling various types of lanterns, diyas, stickers of swastikas and foot-prints of Goddess Lakshmi, rangoli powder and stencils for rangoli designs among other knickknacks.

Seen here are vibrant lanterns hanging by the side of the road for passersby to admire and buy.

photos...

A man takes his time in picking a lantern from the assorted bunch on sale.

photos...

A giant lantern in the process of being made; the lantern-maker hurried away as soon as he saw the camera.

photos...

A little girl busily tries to untangle the strings of two tiny lanterns.

photos...

Two lanterns await their turn to be hung up on display like the others.

photos...

Stalls like these crowd the footpath with their assortment of lanterns and diyas as the traffic whizzes by.

photos...

Customers do their yearly Diwali shopping, deciding on the various articles they require for their homes.

photos...

These dynamic diyas sit packed together, stacked up each bubbling with their own design and sparkle.

photos...

An upside down view of lanterns on sale.

photos...

Two little boys excitedly give the finishing touches to the lanterns before they're put up for sale.

photos...

A woman sits making the new-spangled plastic lanterns shaped in flower designs.

photos...

A schoolboy on his way home admires the festive lanterns.

photos...

...