At the start of the rites a gun-carriage bore the coffin through overcrowded streets from the parliament, where the body of the 61-year-old Rugova lay in state over the past three days, to a sports hall where the main commemoration was held before the burial.
Hundreds of thousands of Kosovans converged from all parts of the UN-administered province to attend the funeral of Rugova, whom they regard as the father of the nation.
During the valedictory ceremony which was held in the sports hall pooling delegations from about 40 countries, local leaders portrayed Rugova as an icon of Kosovo's struggle for independence and a man who promoted peace, unity, tolerance, freedom and democracy.
The EU High Representative Javier Solana described Rugova as a great friend and a man who had dedicated his whole life to the protection of rights of the people of Kosovo.
Solana called on Kosovo leaders to promote unity and refrain from extremism, and to respect Rugova's ideas in tasks ahead of them during the process of seeking a final status for the province.
Alphonso Jackson, the special envoy of U.S. President George W. Bush, said that Rugova had been a great friend of the Untied States and that Washington supported President Rugova's visions.
Present at the funeral were also presidents Stjepan Mesic of Croatia, Alfred Moisiu of Albania, Branko Crvenkovski of Macedonia, and Janez Drnovsek of Slovenia, as well as the UN chief negotiator in the forthcoming negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, state delegations from Germany, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain, France, Turkey, Hungary, Romania and some other countries.
Only family and close friends attended the burial. Presidents Mesic and Moisiu were invited, although it was not within the scheduled protocol, which was seen as a token of thanks to the Croatian and Albanian heads of state for their relations with the deceased colleague.
Three national television networks in Kosovo broadcast the funeral live, with 67 TV centres from abroad airing the broadcast. Several hundred journalists and TV crews from Kosovo and abroad also covered commemorations and funeral rites.
The Kosovo police, supported by the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and NATO-led KFOR force ensured security.
Rugova died in his residence in Pristina on 21 January, after being diagnosed with lung cancer in September last year.
The Sorbonne-educated literature expert is survived by his widow and three children.
Rugova won many international awards and prizes for his pacifist work and promotion of tolerance, including the 1995 Peace and Freedom Award of the Danish PL-Fonden, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which the European Parliament bestowed on him in 1998, the award for tolerance of the German city of Muenster, and the award from the committee of New York City for his commitment to honouring the principles of democracy.