Madhya Pradesh: With Mahashivratri around the corner, the preparations for the occasion are in full swing. Ujjain is making plans to set a Guinness World Record for this Mahashivratri marked on Feb 18, 2023.
To celebrate the festival this year, Ujjain is organising a ‘Shiv Jyoti Arpanam-2023’ programme where nearly 21 lakh earthen lamps will be lit as per Chief Minister Shivraj Singh’s statement. Today, the CM attended a meeting to review preparations for the mega event and stated that the festival of Mahashivratri will be celebrated in Ujjain like Diwali. “On Mahashivratri, residents of Ujjain will express their dedication to Lord Mahakal by lighting 21 lakh lamps. This unprecedented event will be possible only with the participation of the society and the government,” Chouhan stated.
Last year, around 11,71,078 earthen lamps were lit in Ujjain on Mahashivratri. Officials informed in the meeting that under the Shiv Jyoti Arpanam programme in Ujjain, earthen lamps will be lit in the city’s temples, commercial places, homes, besides the banks of the Kshipra River and important intersections and spots.
The officials confirmed that the prominent places in Ujjain will be lit with electrical decorations and rangoli (colourful patterns). After the lighting of 11,71,078 diyas in Ujjain on Mahashivratri last year, 15.76 lakh lamps were lit in Uttar Pradesh‘s Ayodhya city on Diwali in 2022 to set a world record, they said.
The entire programme in Ujjain on Mahashivratri this time will be based on the “zero waste” principle, the officials said. More than 20,000 volunteers will participate in this programme, they added.
(With PTI inputs)
