For the first time, Dhenkanal witnessed congregation of more than one lakh devotees on the occasion of the Rath Yatra on Saturday.
The local people said the devotees’ count had never exceeded 60,000 during the earlier years.
However, favourable weather and repeated publicity in media regarding Nabakalebar of the deities and construction of new chariots this year drew more numbers of devotees to the car pulling festival this year.
However, the chariots could not reach the Gundicha Mandir on the same day due to delay in car pulling. The chariots remained at Jawahar Chhak on Saturday and were pulled to the Gundicha Mandir on Sunday.