Pune Municipal Corporation’s Deepotsav at Shaniwar Wada has been recorded in the Guinness World Records after 38,233 lamps were lit to create the words ‘Vande Mataram’, according to the event report published by Sakal. The civic celebration was organised to mark 150 years of the patriotic song and drew substantial participation from young residents.
The lamps were arranged in the open area in front of Shaniwar Wada, Pune’s historic fort complex. Around 250 young participants took the lead in lighting the lamps simultaneously, completing the display in approximately 30 minutes. The illumination, military band performance and patriotic songs turned the heritage precinct into the centre of a large public gathering.
The Pune civic body had initially set a target of lighting more than 36,000 lamps to create a world record. The final count reached 38,233, forming the words ‘Vande Mataram’ across the designated space. A Guinness World Records team inspected the activity before the record was announced at the venue.
The event was conceived by Pune mayor Manjusha Nagpure as part of the Deepotsav celebrations linked to Diwali and the 150th anniversary of ‘Vande Mataram’. Nagpure said the municipal corporation had resolved to pursue a world record through the festival and credited the participation of Generation Z youth for helping the city achieve the target.
The mayor also said Pune Municipal Corporation was the only local self-government institution in the country to have achieved a world record through such an initiative. That statement was made at the event and was not independently established in the supplied report.
The programme also included a felicitation for the mothers and wives of soldiers who died in service. Maharashtra Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal, MLA Hemant Rasane, deputy mayor Parshuram Wadekar, standing committee chairperson Shrinath Bhimale, additional municipal commissioners Omprakash Divte and Prajit Nair, and representatives of the Pune Cantonment Board and the armed forces attended the ceremony.
The reported record adds an event-led use of a major heritage public space to Pune’s civic calendar. The supplied report did not provide details of the event’s cost, crowd-management arrangements, waste management measures, lamp disposal process or any permissions associated with the use of the Shaniwar Wada precinct.
