un-diwaliUnited Nations commemorated festival of lights Diwali for the first time. The facade of the UN headquarters was lit in bright hues and the words ‘Happy Diwali’, along with the image of a traditional ‘diya’, projected onto the building.India’s Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin thanked General Assembly President Peter Thomson for the initiative,in a tweet.

He also tweeted a picture of passers-by clicking photographs of the building as well as being themselves clicked against the illuminated UN headquarters in the background.

General Assembly President also tweeted a picture of the UN building lit up in bright blue for Diwali.In the tweet he said light over darkness hope over despair, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil – the UN lights up. Happy Diwali.

The UN Secretariat building will be lit up for Diwali from October 29-31. Earlier in June, the UN building was lit up on the occasion of the International Yoga Day.