Festivities gripped the national capital today as Delhiites celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, with enthusiasm and religious fervour.

Since morning, people were busy decorating their houses with ‘diyas’ (earthen lamps) and colourful ‘rangolis’, and exchanging sweets with neighbours and relatives.

Enthusiastic children started bursting crackers since morning, while the elderly began the day offering prayers at temples.

Markets were decked up to welcome the large number of buyers, who rushed to the nearby shopping centres for last minute purchases, especially sweets and crackers.

Many people, mostly youngsters, took to social networking site Facebook to wish a ‘Happy Diwali’ to friends and some of them used the platform for advising their friends to follow safety norms while bursting crackers.

Diwali marks the return of Lord Ram to his kingdom, Ayodhya, after 14 years in exile.

Police and Delhi Fire Service Department personnel were on their toes fine-tuning arrangements to ensure an “incident-free” Diwali.

Security was strengthened across the city, particularly in markets and other crowded places.

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