Kali Puja celebrated across the State on Diwali

People in Orissa worshipped Goddess Kali on the auspicious occasion of Diwali. There was festive mood all around. All schools, colleges and offices remained closed on the day of "Festival of Lights". All houses were decorated with lamps (diyas), candles and artificial lights. People wore new dresses and worshipped Goddess Kali and Goddess Lakshmi.

Although people in north India worship Goddess Lakshmi on Diwali, people of Orissa worship both Lakshmi and Kali on Diwali. Kali Puja is normally performed in the night. However, there is no such hard and fast rule. Despite campaigns against crackers and pro-polution movements, there was hardly any decline in the interest of people to use firecrackers. Bhubaneswar and Cuttack witnessed the firecracker show at least for 5/6 hours in the evening.