Indians prepare for Diwali festival

Diwali is a festival of lights, often involving fireworks, celebrated every year in India.

This year Diwali, a popular festival for Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, will be celebrated on Oct. 24, the Amavasya, or new moon day, of the month of Kartik in the traditional Indian lunar calendar.

Devotees across around the world will bring festivities into their homes by lighting earthen lamps called diyas, setting off fireworks, displaying colored electric lights and exchanging gifts. In northern India, this date also marks the beginning of the new year.

Diwali usually also coincides with a rise in emissions from crop stubble burning in neighbouring states, which increases the concentration of fine particles in the air to several times above the safe limit set by the World Health Organization.