Satna, Oct 20 (PTI) Around 12 lakh devotees from different parts of the country offered 'deep daan' on the banks of the Mandakini river in Chitrakoot on Monday night to mark Diwali, an official said.

According to Hindu scriptures, Lord Ram, his wife Sita and brother Laxman spent around 11 of their 14 years of exile in Chitrakoot, which straddles MP's Satna district and UP's Karwi area and is among the country's foremost pilgrimage centres.

'Deep daan' is a ritual in which devotees float oil lamps (diyas) on sacred rivers in India.

"Around 22 lakh devotees have taken a holy dip in the Mandakini in the five-day annual mela (fair) that began in Chitrakoot on Saturday, and many more are likely to take the dip in the coming two days," Satna Superintendent of Police Hansraj Singh told PTI.

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