3,473 drones drew a dancing peacock over Mysuru — and took a world record with it

Mysuru's Dasara festival has made a habit of painting the night sky with drones, and this year it outdid itself. On October 18, at the Torchlight Parade Ground in Bannimantap, 3,473 drones rose together to form a dancing peacock — India's national bird — earning a Guinness World Records title for the largest aerial display of a bird formed by drones. The same show drew a lion, a butterfly, a soldier holding the national flag and the goddess Chamundeshwari. The display, by IIT Delhi-incubated BotLab Dynamics for the state electricity corporation, beat the festival's own 2025 record of 2,983 drones by 490 aircraft.