Bhubaneswar: The 21-day lockdown amid coronavirus outbreak has debarred devotees from visiting many temples of the state including the Lingaraj temple of Bhubaneswar. Now, suspense is building up over Lord Lingaraj’s annual car festival, popularly known as ‘Rukuna Rath Yatra’.
Quite like the car festival of Puri, devotees await all-year long to witness Lord Lingraraj’s annual car festival in Bhubaneswar. That said, uncertainty looms large over the celebrations this year owing to concerns over social distancing.
According to Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on occasion of Ashokashtami each year. This year it comes on April 1. With only two days left, and the chariot of the Lord yet to be constructed, the usual celebration remains out of bounds. However, many devotees of the Lord have been demanding at least a ceremonial function to keep the tradition alive.
The administration, meanwhile, is yet to make its stand clear pertaining to the festival.
A meeting involving servitors and temple administration officials was held at circuit house in Bhubaneswar Saturday where collector Sitanshu Rout readout 40 guidelines issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department to tackle coronavirus outbreak. However, no concrete decision could be taken with regards to the annual sojourn of the Lord.
According to servitor Lingaraj Pujapanda, if Lord Lingaraj’s Rukuna Rath Yatra is required to be cancelled for any reason, the car festival, as per the temple tradition, will be observed after 12 years.
“The tradition of Rukuna Rath Yatra has been going on from Treta Yuga. The administration must find out a way to observe the festival,” Pujapanda said while suggesting that the tradition could be saved if it is observed with some select servitors while following all the corona guidelines of the government.
PNN