Bhubaneswar: The famous ‘Rukuna Rath Yatra’ of Lord Lingaraj has commenced in capital city Bhubaneswar today that is on Wednesday. The chariot pulling will begin at 3:30 p.m. The Mangala Aalati of Lord Lingaraj was held at 5 am in the morning then the Public Darshan of the Lord started.
The Surya puja will be begin from 10.45 am then the Pahandi ritual of the lord will be held between 12:30 pm to 1:30 p.m. The other rituals of the Lord will be held between 1.30pm to 3.30pm on top of the Chariot.
The water for the holy ritual was obtained from the Marichi Kunda near the Mukteswar temple on the Saptami for Rukuna Rath Yatra.
Thousands of devotees have congregated at the Lingaraj Temple for the Rukuna Rath Yatra today.
All the preparations are complete and 12 platoons of police have been deployed for the smooth conduct of the Rath Yatra. in addition, two additional DCPs, six ACPs, 12 inspectors, and 50 ASIs have been deployed to maintain law and order around the area.
The Commissionerate Police have also made elaborate arrangements for traffic control.
The rath yatra of Lord Lingaraj is celebrated in Odisha on the day of Ashokastami that takes place in the month of Chaitra.
This festival lasts for five-seven days. This festival is believed to be ‘Papa Binashakari Yatra’ which means festival that destroys all evil and sins.
Rukuna Rath is also called ‘Analeuta’ chariot as the chariot does not take any turn during the return journey. The direction of altars of the gods gets changed and the chariot is pulled from opposite side.
