The largest Hindu festival, 'Diwali' begins... India covered in lantern light

Mass firecrackers set off at the 'Festival of Lights'... Delhi air pollution is the worst in the world

(Hanoi = Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Jin-hyung = Diwali, the festival of lights, the largest Hindu festival in India, was held in a grand manner across India on the 8th (local time).

According to the Associated Press, fireworks, laser and light shows were held the day before on the riverside of Ayodhya, a Hindu holy city in northern Uttar Pradesh, with numerous residents and believers lighting millions of lanterns.

Across the country, residents decorated the inside and outside of their homes with lanterns, decked out in new clothes, and gathered with relatives to share holiday food and hold parties.

Diwali is a Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of light over darkness. It originated from the fact that when Prince Rama, the protagonist of the ancient Indian epic 'Ramayana', returned to his hometown Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, the residents welcomed him with lanterns.

This year's Diwali falls on November 8, and in India, the festival continues for five days around Diwali.

In addition to Hinduism, other religions in India, such as Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism, also celebrate Diwali, and about one billion people, including the Indian community in India and around the world, celebrate Diwali.

During Diwali, Indians light candles, lanterns, and lamps and use huge amounts of firecrackers in the belief that lighting more lights will bring greater luck.

As air pollution worsens in the winter, air quality often reaches the worst level of the year around Diwali.

According to an analysis by the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA), an environmental think tank based in Finland, the concentration of ultrafine dust (PM2.5) in the Delhi metropolitan area of ​​India recorded 300 on the morning of the 6th. This is 20 times the standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The air quality index (AQI) in the Delhi area, measured by IQAir, an air quality analysis company, also soared to 581 the previous morning, recording the worst in the world.

Accordingly, the previous day, local authorities ordered schools in Delhi and nearby areas to switch to online classes and recommended workplaces to work from home.