BHUBANESWAR: The scorching heat, notwithstanding, thousands of devotees turned up at the Lingaraj temple on Tuesday to pull the Rukuna Rath of Lord Lingaraj on the occasion of Ashokastami in Old Town on Tuesday.
Although the pulling of the 35-ft-high chariot was delayed by an hour-and-a-half against the scheduled time of 3.30 pm, the ritual went on smoothly.
The chariot, however, made its halt for the day near the Papanashini tank as the sun went down. It will resume the journey at 4 pm on Wednesday. The chariot covers 2.5 km distance from Lingaraj temple to Mausima Ghara in Rameswar temple. The three deities - Lord Chandrasekhar, the presiding deity, along with Rukmini and Basudev - who head to Rameswar temple every year, will return after four days of rest.
On the day, rituals of the chariot festival began in the temple with ‘mangala alati’ at 5 am. Sources said the rituals were being carried out as per the schedule till the ‘Pahandi Bije’. However, the rituals of the deities on the chariot after ‘Pahandi’ were delayed. After the Bhoga Mandap ‘niti’ of the deities, thousands gathered near the temple to witness and take part in the chariot pulling.
On the occasion, the Khurda administration felicitated people who donated wood for construction of the Rukuna Rath. Collector Chanchal Rana appreciated their efforts towards the festival.