Pitri

Pitri (Sansk., 'father;' plur. Pitaras), the deceased ancestors of a man, but in the special sense in which the word occurs in Hindu mythology, an order of divine beings inhabiting celestial regions of their own, and receiving into their society the spirits of those mortals for whom the funeral rites have been duly performed. They include therefore collectively the manes of deceased ancestors (see LARES); but the principal members of this order are beings of a superior nature.