Bengaluru, Apr 6 (IANS): Lakhs of oil lamps and wax candles flickered for 9 minutes from 9 pm, as lights went off in thousands of homes across India's tech hub on Sunday.

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call on April 3, lakhs of denizens, including women and children, turned off bulbs and tubelights and lit lamps or candles outside their home or in balconies across the garden city.

Thousands of people from all walks of life also held high in their hands torchlights or mobile phones with flashlights switched on, standing afar for social distancing, as advised by Modi in a 9-minute audio/video message to the nation, amid the 21-day lockdown to ward off darkness cast by coronavirus.

There were, however, many people in the city who did not switch off lights or light lamps or candles, as they did not believe in Modi's call and termed the exercise futile, saying the deadly disease will not burn by the heat generated by oil lamps or wax candles.