Oil from Uttar Pradesh record diya bid lights stoves in many homes

AYODHYA: The earthen stove in Vijay Kumar's home across the Ram Ki Paidi in Ayodhya was not lit on the eve of Diwali. His family of five, belonging to the nomadic community of snake charmers from Bahraich district, had arrived in Ayodhya almost on empty stomachs.

The same day , UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath presided over a grand celebration along the Saryu to commemorate the mythical home-coming of Ram after his 14-year exile and vanquishing Ravana in Lanka by lighting around 1.87 lakh diyas to claim a Guinness record.

On Diwali day , however, Kumar found a large number of diyas on the steps of Ram Ki Paidi with oil in them. His family , and many others, collected the oil, and even scrapped up remains from floors, to use for cooking at home.

“For one meal we have to buy oil worth at least Rs 15. We did not steal. No one from the police or administration bothered to conserve the leftover oil. The oil-filled diyas were lying there all night. It was only in the morning that we began gathering it,“ he said.

Suman, another member of the community, added, “A lot of the oil had already been wasted and the remaining was getting drained. We saw no harm in filling our children's stomach with a good meal cooked in oil.“

Raj Kumar, 10, who sat at a ghat with a snake in his basket, had also scouted through the earthen lamps. “Whoever organised it, should have given the oil to us poor people,“ he said.

“The leftovers from Chhoti Diwali on October 18 were cleaned on October 20. The oil spilt was to be soaked in sand that had to be left on it for two days before it could be cleaned,“ said MP Singh, commissioner, Faizabad-Ayodhya municipal corporation.