By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Millions of people in Orissa Tuesday performed a special rite and prayed for peace of their ancestors on Diwali.
The unique ritual was performed across the coastal Orissa.
Elderly people performed the special rite near rivers and ponds, and made sacred ritual offering to their ancestors.
Thousands of people also performed the ritual at the famous Jagannath temple at Puri, 56 km from here, a district administration official said.
Male members of Hindu families also lit jute stems and chanted prayers for their late relatives after dusk.
“We remember our ancestors every Diwali,” Manu Mishra, a resident of state’s Cuttack town, told IANS.
The festival of lights was celebrated across the state with people and children decorating houses with earthen lamps, candles and bursting firecrackers.