Rukuna Ratha Jatra Today

Bhubaneswar: The famous ‘Rukuna Ratha Jatra’ of Lord Lingaraj started in Bhubaneswar today with much fervor. The chariot pulling will begin at 3.30 pm. 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 ritual was collected from the Marichi Kunda near the Mukteswar temple on Saptami for Rukuna Ratha Jatra.

Thousands of devotees are gathered in the Rath ground for the Rukuna Ratha Jatra. All the preparations have been done for the smooth completion of the ratha jatra. As many as 12 Platoons of police force has been deployed for the drawing of the Rukuna ratha.

Reports say that, other related arrangements have also been made by the police which include distributing water, providing fans to the devotees, etc. It has also been requested to ban the playing of obscene songs atop the ratha. The commissioner police have also made elaborate arrangements for traffic control. The vehicles will be diverted on certain routes to avoid over-crowding and congestion of roads.

Furthermore, two additional DCPs, six ACPs, 12 inspectors, 50 ASIs will be deployed to mantain law and order in and around the area. The ratha jatra of Lord Lingaraj is celebrated on the day of Ashokastami that takes place in the month of Chaitra. This festival, which is believed to be ‘Papa Binashakari Jatra’ that means festival that destroys all evil and sins, will be held for five-seven days.

Rukuna Ratha 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 the opposite side.