TN celebrates festival of lights with fervour

Deepavali was celebrated across Tamil Nadu on Sunday with traditional gaiety and fervor.

The festival is one of the most celebrated events in the state which marks scintillating display of fireworks.

People wore new clothes, burst crackers and greeted near and dear ones on the occasion.

Several households were decked up with earthern lamps while commercial establishments with lights to mark the occasion.

This year too, fans of Tamil actors made a beeline to cinema halls across the state to watch the Deepavali release of their favourite stars.

Places of worship, including the famous Meenakshi temple in Madurai, Ranganathaswamy temple in Tiruchirappalli and Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram witnessed a huge rush of devotees.

The state government has declared a local holiday on October 28 to enable people to travel to their respective hometowns to celebrate the festival of lights.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and various political leaders extended their Deepavali greetings to the people.

The transport department announced operation of special buses to various parts of the State while Southern Railway had also announced special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers.

Last year, just before Diwali, the Supreme Court had banned conventional firecrackers and ruled that only green crackers with reduced emission will be allowed to be manufactured and sold in the country in order to control the pollution level.

It also fixed a two-hour window for bursting of crackers.

Complying with the Apex court order, the AIADMK-led government has issued time slots for the second consecutive year to burst crackers between 6am and 7am and then between 7pm and 8pm.