- Varanasi's Dev Dipavali, once a dignified, intimate festival, has now become a dazzling extravaganza
- Ganga Aarti jazzed up into a choreographed show with flashy costumes and sets
- The festival has been reinvented to become a potpourri of revivalism, nationalism and eco-consciousness
- Armed forces too take part, commemorating martyred soldiers at a replica of India Gate on the ghats and a chopper showering petals
- Hotels offer tourist packages featuring boat rides, guided aarti tour, deep daan, thali dinner