Ayodhya (UP), June 18 : To accommodate the Yogi Adityanath government's target of lighting 21 lakh earthen lamps (diyas) for Deepotsav this year, the Ayodhya administration has decided to extend the Ram ki Paidi. During his recent Ayodhya visit, Yogi Adityanath instructed the officials to make a world record by arranging 21 lakh diyas on Deepotsav, a day before Diwali, to mark the start of celebrations for the opening of the grand Ram Temple. Last year, a world record was created as 15.76 lakh diyas were lit up at the same time in a series without any break, out of the total 17 lakh that had been spread out. "Ram Mandir to be inaugurated in January next year is the reason to plan Deepotsav on a grand scale," said vice-chairman of the Ayodhya Development Authority, Vishal Singh. Executive engineer of irrigation department and in charge of the Ram Ki Paidi in Ayodhya, Jay Singh said space is available to line up that many diyas. "Apart from the 500-metre wide main channel at Ram Ki Paidi, we have an upstream disposal channel and escape channel at the site. Altogether 5-km long stretch of ghats is available along and off the Saryu but making more space for movement of volunteers from the university, crowd management and sitting arrangement for the visitors will be required," said Singh. Accordingly, civil work will be undertaken at the site in the coming weeks. Ram Ki Paidi in Ayodhya was planned by the irrigation department in late 1990s and its purpose was to create a canal to carry excess water from the Saryu River to agricultural fields. Over the years, ghats were built in the religious city to offer safe and uninterrupted source of water from the holy river where devotees could take a dip without the worry of getting washed away in the strong currents of Ganga and Saryu rivers. /IANS