Olympic flame lighting ceremony took place on Thursday, 4 months before the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics at the ancient Olympia, Greece as per the Olympics rituals under the unprecedented health lockdown.

‘High priestess’ after offering prayer to  ‘Apollo’(the sun god ) held the torch to the Olympic bowl  and kindled the flame. The torch was lit by the special parabolic mirror which reflected the sun rays intensely towards it.

The bowl was ,then ,carried to the nearby stadium and placed beside the olive branch  followed by another prayer to Apollo for His blessing. The high priestess after the traditional dance by the maidens  handover the torch to the First torchbearer and released the dove, a symbol of peace.

Anna Korakaki ,Rio 2016 Shooting gold medallist , became the first female torch bearer ever to start the torch relay and Mizuki Noguchi ,gold medallist at Athens 2016 , was the second torchbearer and also the first Japanese torchbearer.

The torch will relay on a 8-day long journey across the Greece and will be handed over to the Tokyo Olympic Organisers at handover ceremony in Panathinaiko Stadium on 19 march.

The handover ceremony in Athens include the performace inspired by the Greek and Japanese mythology about the story of how the flame becomes the light of hope for the future.

Complete coverage of Tokyo olympic flame lighting ceremony –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkmLE2F-N2o

121-day long Torch relay schedule in japan-https://tokyo2020.org/en/torch/