(Image source from: Calgary hosts largest gathering of people dressed as Batman)

The Dark Knight has risen again, but for charity! It was an unusual sight in Calgary, a city in the south of Canadian province Alberta, on Thursday when a couple of hundred people descended on the streets dressed as Batman.

More than 500 employees of Nexen, dressed head-to-foot as Batman. Congregated outside the headquarters of the oil and gas company, to raise funds for charity and also break a world record in the process.

All the 542 participants had their costumes inspected by a Guinness Book of World Records staffer who, after ensuring they all stood together for five minutes, pronounced the group the official world record holders of the title.

The event, organized by charity United Way, which empowers individuals and families to achieve their potential through education, income stability and health, was the brainchild behind the charity’s superhero-themed 2014 fund-raising campaign.

As Batman himself would say: “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.”

AW: Suchorita Choudhury