Thousands of devotees pull Rukuna Rath

Bhubaneswar: Thousands of devotees participated in the ‘Rukuna Rath Yatra’, the annual car festival of Lord Lingaraj, here on Thursday amid tight security. The festival, held on the occasion of Ashokashtami, takes place every year in front of the Lord Lingaraj temple in the Old Town area.

The chariot pulling was halted midway near the Badhei Banka square due to heavy rain and strong gusty winds caused by a Kalbaisakhi (Nor’wester) storm.

Following daily rituals such as ‘Mangala Alati’, ‘Abakasha Niti’ and ‘Sahanamela’, the bronze idols of ‘Chandrasekhar’ (representative idol of Lord Lingaraj), Devi Rukuna and Ananta Basudev were taken to the chariot from the main temple in a ceremonial procession called ‘Pahandi’, amid chanting of hymns, beating of drums and gongs, and blowing of conch shells.

Though the temple administration had scheduled the chariot pulling at 2.30 pm, it began around 3.45 pm. Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan visited the festival and said, “Necessary steps are being taken for smooth public darshan and pulling of the chariot.”

Rukuna Rath is called ‘analeuta’ (unturned) because the chariot does not take a turn during the return journey and is instead pulled from the rear. The Bahuda Yatra is scheduled for March 30.

A large number of police personnel, along with officers, were deployed for the Rath Yatra and traffic movement was restricted on Ratha Road. Earlier in the day, Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik and Congress State president Bhakta Charan Das extended greetings to the people on this auspicious occasion of Ashokashtami.