Rukuna Rath Yatra is not as popular as Puri Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, but it’s linked with the sentiments of the people of Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

It’s the Rath Yatra of Lord Lingaraj (Lord Shiva), the presiding deity of Bhubaneswar. It’s the biggest festival in the state capital and Wednesday was declared a local holiday in the city for this festival. Thousands of people turned up to pull the rath (chariot) of Lord Lingaraj. The entire yatra route was choc-a-bloc with devotees.

The Rukuna Rath Yatra predates the Puri Rath Yatra, researchers and local servitors claimed. While the Lingaraj temple was established in the 11th century, the Puri temple is a 12th-century shrine.

Science and technology minister Ashok Chandra Panda, who hails from the area and is a servitor of Lord Lingaraj, told The Telegraph: “I don’t want to go into the details of it. But there are temples here which belong to the 3rd century and there is evidence that the Rath Yatra dates back to the BCs. It has also been mentioned in various scriptures.”

Panda said: “The Rukuna Rath is called ‘Analeuta’ as the chariot does not take a turn during the return journey, unlike the Puri Rath. The altar of the deities changes on the day of the homecoming and later the chariot is pulled.”

The 35-foot-high chariot covers 2.5km during the journey from Lingaraj temple to Mausima temple. In the chariot, the Utsav Vigraha (Chalanti Pratima) of Lingaraj, along with brother Basudev and sister Rukumuni, is taken out from the Lingaraj temple to Rameshwar temple (Mausima temple). The chariot will return on Sunday, known as Bahuda Yatra (return journey).

According to the legend, Lord Ram visited Ekamra Kshetra (Bhubaneswar) after killing King Ravan and stayed at the Rameshwar temple as a guest of Lord Lingaraj in Tretya Yuga. Ram built a lingam at the site for thepurpose of worship and it’s known as the Rameshwar temple.

Another legend says on the prayers of the goddess, Lord Mahadev along with her sister Rukumuni went on a special chariot to kill the demon Tripurasura.

Another belief is attached to the rath yatra of Lord Lingaraj. After the consecration of Rukuna Rath, which begins with the lifting of a pitcher full of water from Marichi Kunda (water tank). Pitchers containing the holy water are sold to childless couples. On Tuesday night, the first pitcher of water was sold at Rs 30,000, the second one at Rs 16,000 and the third at Rs 8,000.

“The water has medicinal values. There is a belief that if a barren woman drinks the water and takes a bath with it on the eve of the Rukuna Rath Yatra, she conceives. It has also been proved,” said another local servitor.

According to mythology, Lord Shiva had killed Marich. The demon’s wife, a great devotee of Lord Shiva, prayed about how she could become a mother without her husband. Seeing her devotion, Lord Shiva granted her a boon that if she drinks the water of that tank located inside the Mukteswara temple and takes a bath with the water, she will be blessed with a child. Later she was blessed with motherhood and the tank came to be known as Marichi Kunda.