17,000 candles! It's a record

BAHRAIN last night set a world record by lighting 17,000 candles. The candles were lit at the Manama Processions Area near the Gold Suq. Al Hussaini Society for Islamic Arts organised the event and invited the Guinness World Records to attend, whose representative witnessed the event. Many people who had waited for hours to light their candles had to go back disappointed because of lack of time. The society managed to break the world record in Ashoora last year for the longest candle. It is a Bahraini tradition to light candles on the 10th night of Muharram. The record for the most candles on a cake was set by St Ignatius Cub Scouts, Cincinnati, Ohio, US, who lit 12,432 candles in celebration of Ohio's Bicentennial celebrations on May 9, 2003.