The Rukuna Rath Yatra, the car festival of Lord Lingaraj — the presiding deity of Bhubaneswar — will not roll out this year. The Naveen Patnaik government has decided not to hold the yatra on Wednesday following the coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the 11th-Century shrine of Lord Lingaraj in 2017.

Rukuna Rath Yatra is believed to predate the Jagannath Rath Yatra at Puri. The cancellation of this rath yatra has also put a question mark over the chariot festival of Lord Jagannath which is scheduled to be held on June 23.

Devotees across the state appear uncertain about the administration’s ability to hold the Puri rath yatra if the corona-triggered situation does not improve.

The chariot of Lord Lingaraj was ready to roll on Wednesday. Nearly 75 artisans had worked for the past 21 days to get the 35-foot tall chariot ready. However, the administration is yet to make a formal announcement on the fate of the Rath Yatra with even the servitors of the Lingaraj temple still in the dark.

The Rukuna Rath festival is second only to the rath yatra of Lord Jagannath of Puri. “We are still in a dilemma. Police are not even allowing us to go near the chariot,” said Tunia Maharana, a servitor.

Khurda collector Sitansu Kumar Rout told The Telegraph, “We have asked the temple authorities to adhere to the guidelines and not allow any congregation of people. They will have to abide by the instructions.”

An official said: “We have to be very careful after the headquarters of a religious sect in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area developed into one of the biggest corona hotspots in the country after nine persons linked to events held at the mosque died across the country. The chief secretary has already ordered that there will be no religious congregations.”

Senior Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray on Tuesday met chief secretary and demanded that the government should permit the festival to be held on Wednesday. “The police commissioner and the senior government officials refused our request to hold the car festival even symbolically,” said Rout.

However, his appeal has invited sharp criticism in social media.

Noted research scholar Anil Dhir said: “For the devotees of Lingaraj, the Rukuna Rath Yatra is believed to be ‘Papa Binashakari Yatra’, one which destroys and eradicates all evil and sins. It is the biggest festival in the temple city.”

He said: “On this auspicious day, the Utsav Vigraha (Chalanti Pratima) of Lingaraj, along with Gopalini (Parvati), Kumara and Nandikesvara including the image of Govinda are taken out in a chariot from the Lingaraj temple to the Rameswar temple.

“For the residents of various Sahis of the Old Town, this annual week-long festival is the high point of festivities in which locals people take part in large numbers.”

According to the legend Lord Rama visited Ekamra Kshetra (Bhubaneswar) in Chaitra and stayed at the Rameswara temple as a guest of Lord Lingaraja in Tretya Yuga. During the Rukuna Rath Yatra, the devotees pull the 35-foot high chariot with the idols of Chandrasekhar, the representative of Lord Lingaraj, Goddess Rukmini, Kumara and Nandikesvara placed on it.

The chariot is drawn by the devotees from the Lingaraj temple to the Rameswar temple, also called Mausi Maa and starts its return journey on the fifth day. “Such is the popularity of this Rath Yatra is that this year, a miniature replica of the Rukuna Rath was showcased in the Odisha tableau during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi,” Dhir said.

As the tension prevailed near the Lingaraj temple following uncertainty over the fate of the yatra additional commissioner of police (DCP) Anup Kumar Sahoo reached the spot and tried to explain to the people the gravity of the corona virus-triggered situation. However, temple servitors maintained that if the rath yatra tradition is broken the Rukuna yatra cannot take place for the next 12 years.

“We have decided not to allow the congregation of devotees for the pulling of chariots. We are yet to make a decision whether to allow servitors to pull Rukuna Rath symbolically for a few yards or not. If the chariot roll for a few yards then the deities will have to be taken on a palanquin to the Rameswar temple, which is about 1.5 kilometers from the Lingaraj temple. However, whether even this symbolic pulling of the chariot is possible or not will be known on Wednesday morning only. The decision in this regard will be taken at the highest level,” said a senior official.