Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attended the Dev Deepawali Mahotsav at the Ghats of Varanasi. Modi witnessed the spectacle of Dev Deepawali in which rows of lamps were lit on the bank of Ganga.
A senior official of the district administration said about eight lakh lamps were lit on the 84 ghats located on the western bank of the river.
Dev Deepawali, also known as the festival of Kartik Poornima, was celebrated across India on November 18, 2021.
Once a quiet riverside ritual, Dev Deepawali has evolved into UP's largest soft-power spectacle -- merging faith, art, enterprise into a global cultural brand that reflects state's growing confidence.
Devotees lit 21,000 lamps at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar, November 27, 2023, as they prayed for the 41 Indians trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi on Dev Deepawali.
More than 51,000 diyas were lighted on Friday on Dev Deepawali at a Varanasi ghat to form 'Batoge to Katoge' -- a slogan given recently by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a call apparently to Hindus to stay united.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Anandiben Patel participated in the celebrations.
'Whatever I did, I did for the farmers and whatever I am doing, I am doing for the country'
Thank you, Mr Prime Minister, for bringing colour to our colourless, drab, despair-ridden lives.