Bhubaneswar: A snag that forced Lord Lingaraj's Rukuna rath to stop for the day left several devotees here disappointed.

The information and public relations department announced the government's decision to cancel the chariot pulling event because of rope shortage after the rope snapped thrice.

The chariot could only move for a few feet on Saturday.

"We had sourced the ropes from the Coir Board of India like every year. Unfortunately, we have no idea what went wrong," said Khurda's additional collector Manoj Mohanty. "Though arranging a new rope is quite difficult, we will somehow get it to resume chariot pulling tomorrow," he added.

Devotees, who had gathered en masse to witness the event, expressed their disappointment following the abrupt halt. "This is perhaps the first time that something like this has happened. We are really upset," said Monalisa Padhi, a devotee from Cuttack.

Tight security was in place to manage the crowds and maintain law and order. The festival takes place every year on the eighth day of Chaitra.

The uniqueness of the Rukuna rath is that it does not "take a turn" unlike the chariots of the Puri Jagannath temple.

"After a five-day sojourn, when the deities return to their abode, the chariot is pulled from behind. It is called analeuta (the chariot that does not take a turn)," said Akash Pradhan, a septuagenarian resident of Old Town.

Devotees from distant Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul and Khurda turned up for the festival. Mythology has it that on this day, Sita had offered ashoka flowers to the gods while she was confined in the Ashoka forest by demon king Ravan.