Twitter celebrates Diwali with launch of diya emoji

Micro-blogging site Twitter launched a Diwali emoji by roping in Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor whose new movie Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is set to release this festive season.

"This Diwali, Twitter is the go-to platform where people from across the world can engage in conversations about their celebrations, experiences and moments in real time. The #HappyDiwali emoji is a delightful, colourful way to unite Indians all over the world and celebrate the festival of lights together on Twitter," said Rishi Jaitly, Twitter vice president of media, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa.

Twitter said that users can mention the hashtag #HappyDiwali while composing a tweet and the emoji will automatically appear in the sent tweet. Go on, you know you want to try it.

The 'diya' symbolises victory of good over evil, brightness over darkness, and truth over falsity, it said. "The emoji is available starting today, giving Twitter users a fun way to spread the festive spirit and celebrate the occasion with Indians worldwide," the company said in an emailed statement.

The new emoji comes just after the 'Make in India' emoji, the first India-specific Twitter emoji, launched by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from the Twitter headquarters in San Jose.

While the #MakeInIndia brand campaign on Twitter had over 300 million impressions and nearly 24 million engagements in August and September this year, the @MakeInIndia official Twitter account has over 700,000 followers since its inception a little over a year ago.

This year, we're excited to celebrate the festival of lights with our first ever Diwali emoji! #HappyDiwali

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) November 9, 2015