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NEWHAM PUPILS ATTEMPT WORLD RECORD WITH RICE
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Pupils from Britannia Village and Calverton primary schools took part in a world record attempt to celebrate this year’s Diwali festival.
A total of 60 children chosen from schools across the country headed to the ExCeL centre
on16th October to create a giant Rangoli pattern covering 896.5 square metres.
Rangoli is the name given to the patterns traditionally made on the doorsteps of Indian houses during Diwali. Ground rice which has been coloured is arranged in bright and beautiful designs. Diwali, which falls on October 21st, celebrates Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity and peace, and marks the Hindu new year. The festival is also celebrated by the Sikh community. |
The huge design in Newham’s exhibition centre was organized by Indian food company
Patak’s, and was created from colourful foods including yellow split peas, green and red lentils, rice, maize, red kidney beans and pink delphinium petals.
Cllr Unmesh Desai, cabinet member for community and external affairs, was asked to verify the authenticity of the pattern. He said: “The children worked so well together to make a magnificent Rangoli. It was wonderful that Newham hosted this attempt on the world record.”
A chartered surveyor also attended to verify the dimensions of the pattern. An application has been submitted to the adjudicators at Guinness World Records, who will decide whether the Rangoli pattern can be registered as an official record. The current record holder was created in India last year, and measured 865.85 square
metres.
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