Daily Life Timeline

Lighting Timeline of India: Kerosene Lamps → Bulbs → LEDs → Smart Lighting

In the 1950s most Indian homes were lit at night by a smoky kerosene wick lamp or a hurricane lantern. Electric bulbs spread in the 1970s, tube lights and CFLs followed, the UJALA programme put crores of LED bulbs into homes from 2015, and in the 2020s smart bulbs can be switched on, dimmed, and coloured from a phone.

This timeline covers clay diyas and brass lamps, the first electric light in Calcutta, hurricane lanterns and Petromax lamps, 1950s kerosene, 1970s incandescent bulbs and tube lights, CFLs and solar lanterns, village electrification, UJALA LEDs and LED street lights (2015), and smart bulbs and smart street lights in the 2020s.

1950s Kerosene → 1970s Bulbs 2015 LED Distribution 2020s Smart Bulbs

Why the Lighting Story Matters

Good light after sunset lets children study, shops stay open, women work safely, and families live fuller lives. Moving from smoky kerosene lamps to electric light has improved health and education across India, and moving from old bulbs to LEDs has saved huge amounts of electricity and money. The story of lighting is also the story of India’s electricity network reaching every village.

Big picture

India’s lighting journey in one view

Oil diyas lit India for thousands of years. Kerosene arrived in the late 1800s and ruled village nights well into the 1950s and beyond, while electric bulbs lit city homes. Rural electrification spread bulbs and tube lights from the 1970s, CFLs and solar lanterns came in the 2000s, and from 2015 UJALA made LEDs cheap for everyone. All villages were electrified by 2018, and smart bulbs now arrive in city homes. Related timelines: electricity in India, Digital India, the internet.

36 crore+

LED bulbs under UJALA

~1.3 crore

LED street lights installed

43% → 31%

Homes lit by kerosene, 2001 → 2011

2018

All villages electrified

Split image with a boy studying by the flame of a small kerosene lamp in a dark mud-walled room on the left, and a girl studying at a desk under a white LED desk lamp with colourful smart bulbs in the ceiling on the right
From homework by a kerosene flame to LED desk lamps and smart bulbs (artistic illustration).

Lighting Then vs Now at a Glance

FeatureThenNow
Light sourceOil diyas, kerosene lamps, lanternsLED bulbs, tube lights, smart bulbs
Fuel or powerOil and kerosene bought in small amountsGrid electricity and rooftop solar
BrightnessDim, flickering flameBright, steady white or coloured light
HealthSmoke, soot, eye strainNo smoke; less eye strain
SafetyFires and burnsMuch safer; wiring and switches
Daily workFilling fuel, trimming wicks, cleaning glassFlick a switch or use an app
Energy use60–100 W bulbs in the bulb era7–12 W LEDs for similar light
LifespanWicks and mantles; bulbs ~1,000 hoursLEDs ~15,000–25,000 hours
Power cutsCandles and lanterns kept readyInverters, rechargeable and solar lights
Street lightingOil and gas lamps, then yellow sodium lightsLED and solar street lights, some remotely controlled
🪔 DiyasAncient – 1878

Diyas, Oil Lamps & Torches

For thousands of years Indians lit their homes and temples with clay diyas and brass lamps burning vegetable oils and ghee. Lamps became a sacred symbol — Deepavali means “a row of lamps” — and torches lit streets and processions. In the late 1800s cheap kerosene began to arrive.

Temple courtyard at dusk during Deepavali with hundreds of clay diyas arranged around a colourful rangoli, a tall brass Kerala nilavilakku with several flames, a hanging brass lamp, and two women in silk saris lighting more diyas
Clay diyas and brass lamps — India’s oldest lights, still lit every Deepavali (artistic illustration).
  • Ancient times: Clay lamps burning sesame, mustard, castor, or coconut oil and ghee with cotton wicks light homes; the lamp becomes a symbol of knowledge and good fortune.
  • Medieval period: Temples keep lamps burning day and night; bronze lamp-bearer figures (deepalakshmi) and tall brass lamps such as Kerala’s nilavilakku are made.
  • Mughal and later courts: Candles, lanterns, and glass chandeliers light palaces; mashalchis carry flaming torches for processions and travellers.
  • Late 1800s: Imported kerosene, cheaper than vegetable oil, spreads with tin wick lamps; oil is found at Digboi in Assam in 1889.

Technology

  • Clay diyas: Oil and cotton wick.
  • Brass lamps: Many wicks, brighter light.
  • Torches: Cloth soaked in oil.

Features

  • Sacred light: Puja and festivals.
  • Early nights: Life followed the sun.
  • Costly oil: Used carefully.
💡 First Electricity1879 – 1946

First Electric Lights & Lanterns

Electric light reached India only a few years after it was invented. Cities such as Calcutta, Darjeeling, Bangalore, and Bombay got their first power supplies and electric street lamps, but electricity stayed mostly in rich homes, offices, and cinemas, while kerosene lanterns lit the rest of the country.

Sepia street scene around 1905 at dusk with a new cast-iron electric street lamp glowing, men in turbans and dhotis and a woman in a sari looking up at it, a horse-drawn carriage and bullock cart, and colonial buildings
Crowds gathered to marvel at the first electric street lamps (artistic illustration).
  • 1879: Electric light is demonstrated for the first time in India, in Calcutta.
  • 1897–1902: A hydroelectric station supplies Darjeeling (1897); Calcutta gets a public electricity supply (1899); the Shivanasamudra hydro plant in Mysore State starts (1902).
  • 1905: Bangalore lights its streets with electric lamps, one of the earliest cities in Asia to do so.
  • 1910s–1940s: Hurricane lanterns and bright Petromax pressure lamps spread for homes, shops, and weddings; companies such as Radio Lamp Works (1938, later Bajaj Electricals) sell electric goods.

Technology

  • Carbon and tungsten bulbs: First electric lamps.
  • Hurricane lantern: Wind-proof glass chimney.
  • Petromax: Pressurised kerosene and a glowing mantle.

Features

  • City privilege: Electricity for few.
  • Street lamps: Safer city nights.
  • Kerosene rules: In villages.
🏮 Kerosene1947 – 1969

Kerosene Lamps & Lanterns

In the 1950s almost every village home was lit by kerosene. A small tin wick lamp or a hurricane lantern gave a dim, smoky light for cooking, eating, and homework. Kerosene was sold cheaply through ration shops, and new laws and boards began the long work of bringing electricity to villages.

Village home at night in the 1950s where a grandfather reads a paper, two children do homework on a mat beside a hurricane lantern, a small wick lamp glows in a wall niche, another lantern hangs by the door, and the mother cooks at a mud chulha
In the 1950s the hurricane lantern and wick lamp lit village nights (artistic illustration).
  • 1948: The Electricity (Supply) Act sets up State Electricity Boards to generate and supply power across each state.
  • 1950s: Only about 3,000 of India’s nearly 5.6 lakh villages have electricity; most families use kerosene wick lamps (dhibri, chimni) and lanterns (lalten).
  • 1950s–1960s: Subsidised kerosene is sold through ration shops; Petromax lamps light weddings, fairs, night markets, and roadside stalls.
  • 1969: The Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) is set up to fund power lines to villages and pump sets for farmers.

Technology

  • Wick lamp: Cheap tin lamp.
  • Hurricane lantern: Carried outdoors.
  • Pressure lamp: Bright for events.

Features

  • Smoke and soot: Harmful to health.
  • Fire risk: Burns and house fires.
  • Ration kerosene: Subsidised fuel.
💡 Bulbs1970 – 1999

Incandescent Bulbs & Tube Lights

From the 1970s, rural electrification brought power lines to many more villages, and a single yellow bulb hanging from a wire became a sign of progress. Tube lights lit offices and middle-class homes, but frequent power cuts meant the kerosene lantern was always kept ready.

1970s small-town home at night with a bare yellow incandescent bulb hanging over a family sitting on a cot, a white tube light in the next room, a ceiling fan, a transistor radio on a shelf, and a kerosene lantern ready on the windowsill
A bare bulb and a tube light — with a lantern kept ready for power cuts (artistic illustration).
  • 1970s: Rural electrification spreads; incandescent bulbs of 40, 60, and 100 watts become common, and Indian companies make bulbs and tube lights in large numbers.
  • 1970s–1980s: Fluorescent tube lights with chokes and starters light offices, shops, and homes; frequent power cuts keep candles and lanterns in use.
  • 1988–1989: The Kutir Jyoti scheme gives poor households a free single-point light connection.
  • 1991: The Census finds that about 42% of households use electricity as their main source of lighting.

Technology

  • Incandescent bulb: Glowing tungsten filament.
  • Tube light: Brighter, cheaper to run.
  • Emergency lamps: Rechargeable backup.

Features

  • One-bulb homes: Many villages.
  • Power cuts: A daily problem.
  • Wasteful bulbs: Most energy lost as heat.
🔆 LEDs2000 – 2019

CFLs, Solar Lanterns & UJALA LEDs

Energy-saving CFLs and solar lanterns arrived in the 2000s. Then, from 2015, the UJALA programme bought LED bulbs in bulk and sold them cheaply, making India one of the world’s biggest LED markets. By 2018 every village was electrified, and kerosene lamps faded from most homes.

Roadside stall under a blue canopy where officials hand out boxes of LED bulbs to a queue of men and women, while a man holds an old yellow incandescent bulb beside a new white LED bulb to compare them
From 2015, low-cost LED bulbs replaced old bulbs in crores of homes (artistic illustration).
  • 2005–2009: The Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (2005) extends village electrification; solar lanterns spread through programmes such as Lighting a Billion Lives (2008); the Bachat Lamp Yojana (2009) offers cheap CFLs.
  • 2011–2012: The Census finds about 67% of households lit by electricity and 31% by kerosene; a huge blackout in July 2012 affects over 60 crore people.
  • 2015: UJALA (January 2015) distributes low-cost LED bulbs, and the Street Lighting National Programme begins replacing street lights with LEDs; bulk buying cuts LED prices sharply.
  • 2017–2019: All inhabited villages are declared electrified (28 April 2018), and the Saubhagya scheme connects about 2.8 crore households.

Technology

  • CFL: Compact fluorescent bulb.
  • LED: Light from a semiconductor chip.
  • Solar lanterns: Off-grid light.

Features

  • Energy saving: Up to 90% less power.
  • Cheap LEDs: Bulk buying.
  • Every village: Electrified by 2018.
📱 Smart Lighting2020s – Future

Smart Bulbs & Smart Street Lights

In the 2020s smart LED bulbs became affordable in India. They can be switched on, dimmed, scheduled, or changed in colour from a phone or by voice. Cities added smart and solar street lights, and kerosene lighting almost disappeared — while clay diyas still glow at every festival.

Modern Indian living room in the evening where a young woman changes smart ceiling and floor-lamp lights to soft purple with a smartphone app, with a smart speaker on a side table, LED strips behind the TV unit, and a lit brass diya and fairy lights at a small puja shelf
Smart bulbs change colour from a phone, while a brass diya still glows at the puja shelf (artistic illustration).
  • 2020s: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth smart bulbs, LED strips, and voice assistants become common in city homes; lights can be scheduled and dimmed from phones.
  • 2020s: Smart cities install LED street lights that can be monitored and dimmed from control rooms; solar LED street lights light village roads.
  • 2020s: Kerosene for lighting nearly disappears as subsidised supplies are cut and many states become kerosene-free; rooftop solar grows with schemes such as PM Surya Ghar (2024).
  • Future: Light-based data (Li-Fi), lighting that changes through the day for better sleep, and efforts to reduce light pollution in cities.

Technology

  • Smart bulbs: App and voice control.
  • Smart street lights: Remote monitoring.
  • Solar LEDs: Clean off-grid light.

Features

  • Mood lighting: Millions of colours.
  • Automation: Schedules and sensors.
  • Tradition stays: Diyas at festivals.

Types of Lights Compared

LightHow it worksPower for similar lightTypical life
Oil diyaBurns oil through a cotton wickFuel, not electricityA few hours per filling
Kerosene wick lampBurns kerosene; smoky flameFuel, not electricityWick trimmed and replaced
Hurricane lanternWick inside a glass chimneyFuel, not electricityWicks and glass replaced
Petromax lampPressurised kerosene heats a glowing mantleFuel, not electricityMantles replaced often
Incandescent bulbElectric current heats a tungsten filamentAbout 60 WAbout 1,000 hours
Tube lightGas glows and a coating turns it into lightAbout 36–40 WAbout 6,000–10,000 hours
CFLA compact, folded fluorescent tubeAbout 14–15 WAbout 6,000–8,000 hours
LED bulbA semiconductor chip gives off lightAbout 8–9 WAbout 15,000–25,000 hours
Smart LED bulbLED plus a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth chipAbout 9 WLike an LED; controlled by app

Wattages and lifetimes are typical values; actual figures vary by brand and quality.

Lighting India in Numbers

City road at night lit by bright white LED street lights on tall poles, some topped with small solar panels, with a flyover, auto-rickshaws and cars leaving light trails, and a village road in the distance lit by solar street lamps
LED and solar street lights replaced old yellow lamps on roads across India (artistic illustration).
Year / surveyWhat it found
1950About 3,000 villages electrified out of nearly 5.6 lakh
Census 1991About 42% of households lit mainly by electricity
Census 2001About 56% lit by electricity, 43% by kerosene
Census 2011About 67% lit by electricity, 31% by kerosene
2015UJALA and the Street Lighting National Programme begin
April 2018All inhabited villages declared electrified
2019About 2.8 crore households connected under Saubhagya
2020sMore than 36 crore UJALA LED bulbs and about 1.3 crore LED street lights

Figures are rounded. A village counts as electrified when public places and a share of homes are connected, so some households got power later.

Traditional Lamps of India

LampRegionUse
DiyaAll IndiaSmall clay oil lamp for puja and Deepavali
NilavilakkuKeralaTall brass lamp lit at dusk and at ceremonies
KuthuvilakkuTamil NaduBrass standing lamp with several wicks
SamaiMaharashtraBrass lamp for home shrines
Deepalakshmi (pavai vilakku)South IndiaLamp held by a bronze female figure
Thooku vilakkuSouth IndiaHanging brass chain lamp
Akash kandilMaharashtraPaper sky lantern hung at Diwali
MashaalNorth IndiaFlaming torch for processions
LaltenAll IndiaKerosene hurricane lantern
PetromaxAll IndiaBright pressure lamp for weddings and markets

Lighting Timeline Summary

Year / EraMilestone
Ancient timesClay diyas with oil and ghee
Medieval periodTemple lamps, brass lamps, torches
Late 1800sKerosene wick lamps spread
1879First electric light shown in Calcutta
1897–1899Power supply in Darjeeling and Calcutta
1905Electric street lights in Bangalore
1948State Electricity Boards set up
1950sKerosene lamps light most homes
1969Rural Electrification Corporation
1970sIncandescent bulbs spread
1970s–1980sTube lights in offices and homes
1988–1989Kutir Jyoti single-point connections
2005Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
2009Bachat Lamp Yojana CFLs
201131% of homes still lit by kerosene
2015UJALA LED distribution and LED street lights
2018All villages electrified
2019Saubhagya household connections
2020sSmart bulbs and smart street lights

Test Your Knowledge

20 quick questions from the lighting timeline. Click each question to reveal the answer.

Answer: A row of lamps.

Answer: Any two of sesame, mustard, castor, or coconut oil, or ghee.

Answer: A tall traditional brass lamp from Kerala.

Answer: Torch-bearers who carried flaming torches for processions and travellers.

Answer: 1879, in Calcutta.

Answer: Bangalore.

Answer: Pressurised kerosene heats a mantle until it glows brightly.

Answer: Kerosene wick lamps and hurricane lanterns.

Answer: About 3,000.

Answer: Smoke that harms the lungs and eyes, or burns and fires.

Answer: The Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).

Answer: The tungsten filament.

Answer: A free single-point light connection for poor households.

Answer: Compact fluorescent lamp.

Answer: About 31%.

Answer: Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All.

Answer: About 8–9 watts.

Answer: 28 April 2018.

Answer: With a phone app or a voice assistant, over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Answer: A technology that sends data using light instead of radio waves.

Classroom activity

Students Tasks

Use these prompts for discussion or projects on how India’s lighting changed over time.

Timeline understanding Energy saving Science of light Oral history
  1. Ask your grandparents how their homes were lit when they were children and what they did during power cuts.
  2. Make a timeline poster: kerosene lamps (1950s), bulbs (1970s), LED distribution (2015), smart bulbs (2020s).
  3. Count all the lights in your home and note whether each is an LED, CFL, tube light, or ordinary bulb.
  4. Calculate how many units of electricity a family saves in a month by replacing five 60 W bulbs with 9 W LEDs used 5 hours a day.
  5. Explain how an incandescent bulb and an LED make light, and why the LED wastes less energy.
  6. Discuss how electric light helps children study and women stay safe after dark.
  7. Make a simple paper akash kandil or decorate a clay diya.
  8. Find out when your village, town, or colony first got electricity.
  9. Observe the night sky in a city and a village, and discuss light pollution.
  10. Debate: “Every home should switch to smart lighting.”

Continue exploring

Lighting changed with the power grid, digital services, the internet, and mobile phones. Explore these connected timelines next.

Power grid timeline Digital India timeline Internet timeline Mobile phones timeline More India timelines All timelines

Moments Through Visual Stories

Click any panel to expand and explore the visual mood.

India’s lighting journey in pictures — Deepavali diyas, early electric street lamps, 1950s kerosene lanterns, 1970s bulbs, LED distribution, smart homes, LED street lights, and then versus now.

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Disclaimer: This content is AI-generated for educational purposes and may contain errors or outdated details. For correct and authoritative information, please refer to official and reliable sources such as government publications, manufacturers, museums, and academic references.