Thousands of devotees turned up at the lingaraj Temple here on Thursday to pull the Rukuna Rath (lord lingaraj’s chariot) on the occasion of Ashokashtami.
The chariot pulling started at around 5 pm against the scheduled time of 4 pm. Other rituals were performed accordingly.
After the rituals, the idols of the three deities, Chandrasekhara (incarnation of lord lingaraj), Rukmini and Basudeva were brought to the chariot. Followed by Pahandi, the devotees started pulling the chariot.
Due to the delayed rituals, the Rukuna Rath had to be stationed at Badheibanka Chhak as the Sun set. The chariot would be pulled to the Rameshwar Temple on Friday, the lingaraj Temple administration informed.
As many as 15 platoons of police force were deployed to maintain law and order during the pulling of the chariot. Two Additional DCPs, 26 ACPs, 93 police officers, including Inspectors, 70 Home Guards and 70 Constables were engaged, sources said. Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi supervised the arrangements.
The deities would stay at the Mausima temple for four days. Around 40 carpenters have built the chariot.