It's obviously that Diwali and crackers are inseparable and for millions of people in India, crackers delight their Diwali celebrations. Amidst such a deep love for crackers, it would be weird when you hear a 'silent' Diwali celebration without crackers. But, there are seven villages in Tamil Nadu that are celebrating no-crackers Diwali for the past two decades. 

While Diwali and crackers are inseparable, the love for birds among the residents of these villages is inseparable as they celebrate silent Diwali to ensure that the birds in a nearby sanctuary won't get spooked away. These seven villages are situated in Erode district, around Vadamugam Vellode, ten kilometres from Erode. 

Vadamugam Vellode has a birds sanctuary where thousands of local bird species and migratory birds from other regions visit the sanctuary between October and January to lay eggs and hatch them. As Diwali will usually be celebrated in October or November, the residents living in these villages won't buy and burst crackers to ensure that birds have peaceful stay around. 

This year's Diwali was celebrated on November 12 and it marked 23rd year of 'silent' Diwali celebrated by these villages. According to PTI, more than 900 families living around the bird sanctuary took the decision to save the birds and not to scare them off by bursting crackers. They have been following this conservation approach for the past 22 years. 

Interestingly, the children of these villages are also not fond of buying and bursting crackers while the children of their age across the state were being swamped with variety of crackers. The villagers said that during Diwali, they buy new clothes to their children and allow them to burn only sparklers and not burst crackers. 

The villages of Sellappampalayam, Vadamugam Vellode, Semmandampalayam, Pungampadi, Karukkankattu Valasu, and two other villages had celebrated their traditional 'silent' Diwali joyfully, without harming the birds and their peaceful ambience.