As new COVID-19 infections are decreasing currently, the festival, which falls with the onset of winters in the South Asian nation, is celebrated with a greater enthusiasm compared to last year.

Against the pandemic figures in April-May this year when over 400,000 new cases and more than 4,000 deaths were recorded in a day, India has been witnessing over 10,000 new cases and less than 500 deaths in 24 hours over the past few weeks.

According to the official data released on Thursday by the federal health ministry, India's COVID-19 tally stood at 34,321,025 with an increase of 12,885 new cases in 24 hours. Meanwhile, as many as 459,652 people have died in the country so far with 461 deaths recorded since Wednesday morning.

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Those who lost their near and dear ones in past 19 months, especially during the second wave of the pandemic earlier this year, are still in mourning and not in a celebratory mood.

"I lost my mother in April this year during the second COVID-19 wave. The mourning period lasts one year. My family would not be celebrating Diwali festival this year as a mark of respect to our mother," said Sumit Malhotra, a resident of Gurugram, a town in northern state of Haryana adjoining Delhi.

One of the major festivals in India, Diwali is celebrated by almost all sections of the Indian society which otherwise has a wide religious and cultural diversity across the length and breadth of the country.

The festival is mostly associated with cleaning and decorating the houses with multi-colour lights and earthen lamps and praying for wealth and prosperity before "Goddess Laxmi" - the goddess of wealth.

To mark the occasion, people exchange sweets and gifts among relatives, neighbours and friends.

Indians also indulge in a lot of shopping ahead of Diwali as markets and shopping complexes are full to capacity promising a brisk business for the shop-owners.

Sensing high turnover of sales around Diwali, big corporates, particularly automotive companies, and other business establishments offer huge discounts to attract customers in a bid to maximise their sales.

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Besides their shopping sprees, Indians also relate the Diwali festival offering prayers before the Goddess Laxmi in the evening hours.

According to a legend, Diwali is celebrated in India as it is believed on this day as per the Hindu Calendar many centuries ago Lord Ram returned to his hometown Ayodhya in northern state of Uttar Pradesh after spending 14 years in exile and killing the demon king Ravan.

To commemorate the occasion, the Uttar Pradesh government organised a grand festival on Wednesday evening, lighting 1.2 million earthen lamps containing mustard oil on the banks of Saryu river, which flows through Ayodhya town. The grand occasion was attended by thousands of people.

The festival is also marked by bursting of firecrackers till late in the night. But, due to high air pollution levels hitting Delhi and surrounding areas over the past few years, there has been a ban on bursting firecrackers.

This year too the Delhi government has imposed the ban. Anyone found possessing or selling firecrackers is heavily fined or prosecuted upon.

Last year's Diwali festival wasn't celebrated with much fervour due to the COVID-19 pandemic as people faced hardships in the form of job losses or salary cuts.

However, huge crowds were witnessed at markets and shopping complexes in Delhi and surrounding areas over the past few days as people indulged in shopping sprees, signalling revival of the Indian economy.

Read: India Warns of COVID-19 3rd Wave

Xinhua