Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with artists dressed as Lord Ram and Mata Sita during Deepotsav 2025 celebrations in Ayodhya on October 19, 2025. | Photo credit: PTI
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the Deepotsav celebrations in Ayodhya on Sunday and attacked the opposition parties for their stand during the Ram Temple movement, saying that where bullets were once fired, lamps are now burning.
“During the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in this very Ayodhya, the Congress said that Ram is a myth while the Samajwadi Party fired bullets at Ram devotees. Today, Uttar Pradesh does not have to face an identity crisis. Now we are lighting lamps where bullets were once fired,” Mr. Adityanath said after inaugurating the temple town of Deepotsav where in the temple town Deepotsav where he performed. (coronation) of Ram and Sita, including pujan.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath lights the diya at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple during Deepotsav in Ajodhya on October 19, 2025 | Photo credit: ANI
Amid a shower of flowers and resonant Vedic chants, Mr. Adityanath worshiped Lord Shri Ram before personally pulling the divine chariot of saints and leading the procession forward. He then performed the aarti and symbolic coronation of Lord Ram and sought his blessings.
From Ramkatha Park to Ram Ki Paidi, Dharampath, Lata Chowk and Hanumangarhi, millions of diyas illuminated Ayodhya in a celestial glow. Every street, ghat and building echoed with chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Devotees lit lamps, sang bhajans and captured the spectacle on their cameras.
Deepotsav in Ayodhya this year featured more than 2.6 million lamps lit at 56 ghats along the banks of the Saryu River, including Ram Ki Paidi. A world record of 2.611 million lamps was set, with the Guinness World Records team documenting the achievement.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath applies tilak on the forehead of performers dressed as Lord Hanuman during Diwali festival celebrations in Ajodhya on October 19, 2025 | Photo credit: ANI
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav hit back and questioned the absence of deputy chief ministers from the event. “Those who didn’t even get a place in the ad. What relevance do they have left in the government? The public is asking if both posts of ‘deputy minister’ have been abolished in the UP BJP government. Surprisingly, the names of junior ministers appear in the ad, but not the names of the deputy CM. This is a case of ‘nobody likes’ social media posts, ‘taggegonic thinking’, ‘tagging on social network’, hasedh video highlighting the absence of Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Mr Yadav also targeted the government over the absence of local SP Lok Sabha member Awadhesh Prasad, claiming that the MP was not invited. “The entire PDA community is deeply hurt by the BJP government’s action of not inviting the Ayodhya PDA MPs to Deepotsav. What can be expected from the BJP which is steeped in the arrogance of hegemonic thinking and is not even close to its own people,” he added.
Published – 19 October 2025 18:40 IST
