Ayodhya Deepotsav 2026: Date, Timings, Diyas, the Guinness Record and the Drone Show, Explained

Ayodhya is preparing the 10th Deepotsav, the lamp festival the Uttar Pradesh government has held on the Saryu since 2017. The date visitors should plan around is Saturday, 7 November 2026, when the main lighting and the collective Saryu aarti are scheduled. October briefings also put festival arrangements across 5 to 7 November, and the drone show is planned for 7 and 8 November.

The lamp number needs a careful reading. 30 lakh is the lighting target in the later government and ministerial statements. 33 lakh is the number of diyas officials say they have procured, and it is also the number some early-October reports used as the number to be lit. They are not interchangeable. The standing Guinness World Records title, on the page read for this article, is still last year's: 26,17,215 lamps on 19 October 2025.

No report read for this piece named a confirmed chief guest.

The 60-second version

• When: October government briefings scheduled the 10th edition from 5 to 7 November 2026. The main lighting and the aarti are on 7 November. The drone show is on 7 and 8 November.
• Diyas: Target to light about 30 lakh (3 million) at 56 ghats. 33 lakh procured, with a government statement that the margin is for breakage. A civic report the same week still said about 33 lakh were expected to be lit. Early October copy had used 33 lakh as the lighting target.
• Supplies, from an Organiser report on 10 October: about 65 lakh wicks, 55,000 litres of oil, 150 kg of camphor, and about 34,000 volunteers, with food planned for about 34,000 students. A 23 October briefing put volunteers at about 35,000.
• Aarti: 2,147 priests, about 5:20 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. on 7 November, from Laxman Qila Ghat through Naya Ghat to Ram Ki Paidi.
• Drones: 2,100 indigenous drones, 15 minutes, at least 15 formations. Ignore a Times of India headline that says 21K.
• Record to beat: Guinness lists 2,617,215 lamps (26,17,215) from 19 October 2025, lit inside 25 minutes across 56 ghats.

Which days are which

The three-day window comes from October. India United Press on 5 October, and Organiser on 10 October, reported that the Ayodhya administration had set the 10th Deepotsav for 5 to 7 November, with lamps along a stretch of about two kilometres from Ram Ki Paidi to the Saryu ghats, and a stage at Ram Ki Paidi for cultural programmes. India United Press said the Shri Ayodhya Ji Teerth Vikas Parishad would organise it.

Later briefings concentrate the set pieces on 7 November, and add an extra day for the drones.

On 23 October, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reviewed preparations for Deepotsav scheduled for 7 November, the Free Press Journal reported. The Additional Chief Secretary for tourism and culture told that meeting the festival would run in three phases: a procession from Saket Mahavidyalaya with Ramayana episodes; programmes at Ram Katha Park, including artists portraying Ram and Sita, Bharat Milap and the coronation; and, third, the Saryu aarti, the lighting of diyas, performances by 200 artists at Ram Ki Paidi, a Ramayana aerial show with 2,100 drones, a laser presentation, green fireworks near Gonda Bridge, and international Ramlilas.

The Times of India on 1 November quoted Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh on the drone show for 7 and 8 November. Northlines on 3 November said the collective Maha Aarti by 2,147 priests is during the celebrations scheduled for 7 November.

This article does not describe a day-by-day programme for 5 and 6 November. The October stories say the celebration runs across those dates. They do not give separate listings for them.

30 lakh to light, 33 lakh procured

The numbers changed shape through October. Reading them in order is the only way to avoid treating two different claims as one.

On 24 September, Navbharat Times reported that Jaiveer Singh, at a review in Lucknow, set a target of lighting more than 30 lakh diyas, against more than 26 lakh on the Saryu the year before. The same briefing promised a 2,100-drone show on Deepotsav and another show two days later, plus 3D projection, a laser show and musical green fireworks.

On 5 October, India United Press reported an administration target of 33 lakh earthen lamps, to pass what it called last year's record of 26 lakh. On 10 October, Organiser likewise said the festival will feature 33 lakh lamps. Organiser is also the source for the supply list used below. Treat "33 lakh will be lit" as what those early-October reports said, not as the later ministerial target.

On 23 October, PTI (carried by Mid-day) quoted a state government statement: 30 lakh diyas were set to illuminate 56 ghats. Dr Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University, which is coordinating arrangements, had procured 33 lakh diyas against the target of lighting 30 lakh, to account for breakage during transportation and placement. Ghat marking had begun after cleaning. A ground-breaking was to be held the next morning with Vedic chants. The PTI copy says the government spoke on Thursday and the ceremony was for Friday morning.

On 25 October, Amar Ujala reported the same split in Hindi: a target of lighting 30 lakh diyas on 7 November at 56 ghats of the Saryu, for which 33 lakh diyas are being brought in.

The same day, a Free Press Journal report on municipal preparations said around 3.3 million earthen lamps (33 lakh) were expected to be lit at the ghats. That is the civic body's expectation in that story. It is not the "30 lakh lit, 33 lakh bought" line in the government statement PTI carried two days earlier.

On 3 November, Northlines quoted Jaiveer Singh: last year Ayodhya set a record by illuminating more than 2.6 million diyas, and this year, on 7 November, the city will be illuminated with approximately 3 million diyas. Three million is 30 lakh.

So, as of the latest ministerial statement read here, the lighting claim is about 30 lakh. The 33 lakh figure is the procurement number in the 23 October government statement and in Amar Ujala, and it is the "to be lit" figure in the 5 and 10 October reports and in the 25 October municipal story. Anyone posting a single number should say which of those they mean.

Amar Ujala also reported that Ujjain lit 33.27 lakh diyas on 17 September, on the Prime Minister's birthday, and wrote that a 30 lakh lighting in Ayodhya would leave the city second. Guinness World Records' public page for the largest display of oil lamps, read on 3 November 2026, still lists the Ayodhya record of 19 October 2025. That page warns that records change daily and are not published online at once. This article does not treat the Ujjain figure as the current Guinness title. It is Amar Ujala's report.

Wicks, oil, volunteers

Organiser, on 10 October, reported the physical stores being arranged for a 33 lakh lighting: about 65 lakh wicks, 55,000 litres of oil, 150 kg of camphor, plus T-shirts, candles and other lamp-lighting material. It said about 34,000 volunteers would help light the lamps, keep order and guide devotees, and that about 34,000 students would also take part, with food and drinking water for them. It put the decorated stretch at about two kilometres.

The 23 October review, reported by the Free Press Journal, used a different volunteer figure: around 35,000. The same briefing said a target had been set to take Deepotsav to more than five crore people through digital platforms. Around 1,000 artists from Uttar Pradesh and from Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam, Rajasthan, Bihar, Kerala, Goa and Telangana were to show folk arts. Cultural representatives from 12 countries were expected. Foreign ambassadors in India, and Indian diplomats abroad, were being invited. "Expected" and "being invited" are not the same as a confirmed list of who has landed.

Last year's Guinness page says more than 30,000 volunteers from the university lit the 2025 display. That is a headcount for 2025, not a roster for 2026. The 2026 volunteer claims in print are the October figures of about 34,000 and about 35,000.

The Guinness record, year by year

The record people mean when they say Deepotsav "breaks its own record" is the largest display of oil lamps.

The Indian Express, reporting the 2024 attempt, gave the state government's year-by-year account of the festival after Yogi Adityanath became chief minister: 1.71 lakh diyas to start, 3.01 lakh in 2018, 4.04 lakh in 2019, 6.06 lakh in 2020, 9.41 lakh in 2021, 15.76 lakh in 2022, 22.23 lakh in 2023, and 25,12,585 in 2024. Jaiveer Singh, quoted by Northlines on 3 November 2026, still dates the start to 2017 and to 1.71 lakh diyas, under the chief minister's guidance. Yogi, at the 23 October review, described the festival as launched in 2017 under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Amar Ujala on 25 October published a more precise series that does not match those rounded figures in every year. It starts 2017 at 1,87,213, not at 1.71 lakh, and lists 3,01,152 (2018), 4,04,026 (2019), 6,06,569 (2020), 9,41,551 (2021), 15,76,955 (2022) and 22,23,000 (2023). Where a year is disputed, this article does not pick a winner. The government series is what the state told The Indian Express in 2024, and what the minister is still using for 2017. Amar Ujala's series is that paper's account.

For 2024, two printed Guinness-related figures disagree, and the disagreement is about the aarti more than the lamps.

The Indian Express quoted Guinness adjudicator Pravin Patel, speaking in Ayodhya with consultant Nischal Bharot, announcing 25,12,585 lamps and 1,121 people for "most people performing diya rotations simultaneously". The government told the paper the lamp count was confirmed after drone calculations. The attempt was on 55 ghats, including Ram Ki Paidi. The Express said the previous year's count, which 25,12,585 surpassed, was 22.23 lakh.

Guinness's own article of 1 November 2024 says 1,211 participants successfully completed the diya-rotation attempt, and that the oil lamps collected amounted to 2,512,585 (the same lamp total as 25,12,585). It also says that, unlike previous attempts, the guidelines did not require the oil lamps to be lit for the record to be valid. The adjudicator's on-the-night quotation in The Indian Express, and the later Guinness article, are both on the record. They do not use the same aarti number. The minister, in 2026, is using 1,121 for 2024.

For 2025, the primary page is Guinness's own. Read for this article, the record "largest display of oil lamps" is 2,617,215, achieved by the Department of Tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh, and Dr Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University, during Deepotsav 2025 in Ayodhya on 19 October 2025. The page says lighting started at 17:30 IST, the lamps were all lit within 25 minutes, across 56 ghats, and they remained alight for up to four hours. More than 30,000 university volunteers took part. That is 26,17,215 in the Indian grouping Amar Ujala also uses for 2025.

The 2025 aarti record is a step less direct. Jaiveer Singh told Northlines that 2,128 priests and Vedic scholars performed the collective Saryu Maha Aarti in 2025 and that this earned a Guinness place. This article did not find a separate Guinness certificate page for that 2025 aarti title. The 2,128 figure is the minister's.

The 2026 claim, from the same minister on 3 November, is approximately 3 million diyas and 2,147 priests. Whether either becomes a record is a question for the night of 7 November and for Guinness, not for a preview.

The aarti and the drone show

Northlines, dated 3 November, is the latest timing this desk could verify. It said 2,147 priests will perform the Maha Aarti on the Saryu on 7 November, from about 5:20 p.m. to 5:50 p.m., on a stretch from Laxman Qila Ghat to Naya Ghat and Ram Ki Paidi. 56 ghats are being prepared. The minister called the aarti, international Ramlila, and the 2,100-drone Ramayana show the major highlights, alongside the lamps.

The Free Press Journal's 23 October story described the aarti as involving 2,147 participants, the same number, in the list of attractions briefed to the chief minister.

The drone detail is in The Times of India of 1 November, again from Jaiveer Singh. 2,100 indigenously manufactured drones will fly on 7 and 8 November. The show lasts 15 minutes. It depicts episodes from the Ramayana, Ram's return to Ayodhya, and what the minister called the spiritual sentiment around them. The storyboard, script, music, voice-over and formations are different from earlier years. At least 15 special formations are planned, more than half of them new. The formations named in the story include Ram, Lakshman and Hanuman, the slaying of Ravan, the Pushpak Viman, Deepotsav, Ram Darbar, Maharishi Valmiki, Goswami Tulsidas, and the logos of the Ram Mandir, Deepotsav, the state government and the tourism department. The minister said the department is preparing nearly twice as many drones as last year.

The headline on that Times of India story reads "21K drones". 21,000 and 2,100 are not the same number. The body of the article, and the quotation, say 2,100. Northlines and the 23 October briefing say 2,100 as well. Use 2,100.

A 2026 clock time for the drone show, and a 2026 clock time for lighting the diyas, were not in these reports. The only 2026 evening window with hours attached is the aarti, about 5:20 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. Last year's lamps, on the Guinness page, started at 5:30 p.m. That was 2025. It is not a published 2026 start time.

What a visitor can actually plan from

The reports are clearer on the riverfront programme than on how to arrive.

Security, traffic and cleanliness are a stated priority. Organiser reported that in October. At the 23 October review, Yogi told officials to protect the religious character of the event and to look after convenience and security, smooth movement, lighting, cleanliness, and signage. None of the stories read here prints a diversion map, a list of closed roads, a parking inventory, or a last-train or last-flight note. A preparations story that mentioned CCTV, drones and sector deployment could not be opened from this desk. Those details are left out rather than repeated from a snippet.

What the municipal corporation has put on the record, via the Free Press Journal on 25 October, is the civic layer:

• Decorative lighting at major crossings, strip lighting on buildings and poles along Ram Path, and lighting at highway underpasses including Naka, Devkali, Mahobra and Booth No. 4.
• Flowers on the railings of Ram Path from Gate No. 11 of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple to Lata Mangeshkar Chowk.
• 30 mobile toilets with caretakers, on top of existing public toilets. The corporation has 471 bio-toilets. For water: 85 water coolers (48 in Ayodhya Dham and 37 in Ayodhya Cantt) and 25 water kiosks (18 in the Dham area and 7 in the Cantt area), plus tankers as needed.
• After the lamps go out, cleaning the same night. About 792 sanitation workers to collect lamps and clean the ghats, sand spread at Ram Ki Paidi, and 55 vehicles for waste. A polythene-free campaign, with messages on the public-address system.

Municipal Commissioner Jayendra Kumar described the cleanliness push at stations, dharamshalas, restaurants, homestays and other crowded points. Mayor Girishpati Tripathi said the corporation was pairing the lamps with water, toilets and safety. India United Press, on 5 October, had identified a Jayendra Kumar as CEO of the Shri Ayodhya Ji Teerth Vikas Parishad and quoted him on tenders and volunteer training. The two stories use the same name and different titles. This article does not merge the posts beyond what each paper wrote.

Yogi also told the 23 October meeting to finish preparations with the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, saints in Ayodhya, and local traders and social organisations.

What to watch next

1. Whether the lighting number that is actually counted on 7 November is the 30 lakh target or something closer to the 33 lakh procurement. The ministerial line on 3 November was approximately 3 million.
2. The aarti at about 5:20 p.m. to 5:50 p.m., and whether 2,147 priests are the number who complete it. The 2024 record is a reminder that the announced figure and the completed figure can differ.
3. The 15-minute drone show on 7 and 8 November, at 2,100 drones, and any start time the administration publishes closer to the day.
4. A traffic and arrival note from the district. It was not in the festival copy reviewed here. Last year's Guinness lighting began at 5:30 p.m. That is context, not this year's schedule.
5. Whether a chief guest is named. None was confirmed in the reports this article is based on.
6. What Guinness does with the 2025 title. Its public page still shows 26,17,215 lamps from 19 October 2025. Amar Ujala's report of a larger Ujjain display is not, on that page, the listed record.

The 10th Deepotsav is a scheduled event with a published lamp target, a published aarti plan and a published drone plan. It is not yet a new world record. That is decided after the lamps are counted.

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Updated in the early hours of 3 November 2026 from Northlines, The Times of India, the Free Press Journal, PTI via Mid-day, Amar Ujala, Organiser, India United Press, Navbharat Times, The Indian Express (2024) and the Guinness World Records page for the largest display of oil lamps, plus Guinness's 1 November 2024 article on that year's two titles. The 30 lakh and 33 lakh figures are explained as a lighting target and a procurement number. The 2024 aarti count is left as a conflict between 1,121 and 1,211. No chief guest was confirmed in these sources. Check the Ayodhya district administration for traffic and timing updates.