A Deepavali event in Colombo on Friday will light 2,026 traditional oil lamps at once, one for each year of the current calendar, under the theme “Lighting the Lamps of Prosperity for the Island”.

The event is organised by the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Alumni Association and runs from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. on Friday, 6 November, at the Sudarshi premises in Colombo, Hiru News reported.

It has been arranged with the support of the Rotary Club of Wattala (District 3220) and the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka. Rotary members, government representatives, ITEC alumni and invited guests are expected to attend.

The lamps

The simultaneous lighting of 2,026 oil lamps is the centrepiece. The number symbolises the year 2026, and the organisers frame the lighting around peace, prosperity, hope and unity.

Deepavali marks the victory of light over darkness and of good over evil. The programme also includes a cultural item, the sharing of traditional Deepavali sweets, and a fellowship gathering.

The organisers state the event’s purpose as further strengthening friendship between the two countries.

Who the organisers are

ITEC is a flagship capacity-building programme of the Indian government. The association brings together Sri Lankan professionals who trained in India under it, and runs social and cultural programmes aimed at knowledge exchange and people-to-people links between the two countries.

Note on timing. This is an announcement of a forthcoming event, not a report of one that has happened. Deepavali itself falls outside the two-hour window of this filing, and the report does not state the festival date or say whether the lamp-lighting coincides with it.

Not reported. The filing does not name the chief guest or any office-bearer of the association, does not say how many people are expected, does not state whether the event is open to the public or by invitation, and gives no indication of how the simultaneous lighting of more than two thousand lamps will be managed. It does not say whether the count is intended as a record attempt.

This report rests on a single verified source. No other verified newsroom had filed on the event at the time of writing.