UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA (REUTERS) A team of volunteers lit almost 200,000 earthen lamps in India's northern Ayodhya city, a day ahead of Hindu festival of lights Deepavali and reportedly set a world record.

Organiser of the event and Awadh University Vice Chancellor, Manoj Dixit, said according to numbers provided by the Guinness World Record officials, the current record has surpassed the previous one by a margin of 30,000.

The previous record was held by the sect of controversial godman, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who has recently been jailed for raping two of his women followers.

The 3 kilometre long bank of river Sarayu in the holy city glistened when all the lamps were lit by students of the university and people drawn from various walks of life. Adding to its shine was 22-minute laser show, which showed various facets of Ramayana, a Hindu epic.