Bhubaneswar: Ahead of Maha Shivaratri festival at Lingaraj temple, all the servitors and police personnel will undergo COVID-19 tests from Tuesday. The auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri falls March 11.
A meeting was conducted Monday to discuss and chalk out plans for smooth conduct of the festival following COVID-19 guidelines. During the meeting, it was decided that servitors and police personnel doing their duties at the temple will undergo COVID-19 tests.
During the meeting, issues relating to the Lord Lingaraj and Lord Kapilnath’s ‘Bhetghat’ rituals were also discussed. Servitor body ‘Brahman Nijog’ has threatened non-cooperation if the ritual gets delayed like previous years. They body said this in a letter. It also filed a written complaint that the rituals were unduly delayed last year.
In a separate development secretary of ‘Badu Nijog’, Kamalakanta Sahoo has informed that they will not participate in any rituals if their long standing ‘Srabani’ dues are not cleared.
However, BMC additional commissioner Abani Kanta Patnaik assured the festival will pass off without any hitches. “We are trying to address the issues the servitors have raised and various bodies have raised,” informed Patnaik.
PNN