Bhubaneswar: Rituals at Lingaraj Temple, which remained suspended for the last three days following a scuffle between two groups of servitors over Makar Sankranti tradition, is set to resume after the dispute was resolved Wednesday evening.
The ‘Brahmin Nijog’ and ‘Badu Nijog’ had disagreements over various ritualistic duties resulting in the standoff since Monday evening.
Due to the disruption of rituals in the temple, the deity was not offered ‘bhoga,’ and Makar Sankranti ceremonies were also not observed in the 11th-century shrine.
Expressing concern over the issue, law minister Prithviraj Harichandan held a meeting with representatives of different servitor groups of the temple earlier in the day and directed to hold a meeting of Lingaraj Temple Trust Board on an emergency basis to discuss the issue.
Accordingly, a meeting of the board was held under the chairmanship of Khurda district collector Chanchal Rana, where the servitors agreed to resume the rituals.
Speaking to reporters, the collector said, “A detailed discussion on the unfortunate incident (halting of rituals) was held with the heads of different servitor groups. It was decided in the meeting that the rituals of the temple will be resumed immediately with the cooperation of all stakeholders.”
The additional district magistrate (ADM) has been asked to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident and submit the report in 24 hours, he said.
“Those who are involved in the incident and tried to aggravate it would be taken to task. We will issue show-cause notices to those found guilty in the inquiry report and suspend them,” the collector informed.
Rana said the suspension was minimum punishment. “If needed, the government will revoke the landed property of the temple allocated to the servitors involved in the dispute,” he added.
The collectors further said the temple administration will monitor the conduct of rituals of Lord Lingaraj on a daily basis.
Earlier in the day, after holding the meeting, the law minister said there were some anomalies in the Record of Rights (RoR) of the temple. Therefore, a judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge will be formed to prepare a draft RoR for conduct of various rituals by the different servitor groups in two months. Record of Rights (RoR) is a legal document.
The Endowment Commission will implement the Record of Rights at the temple so that there will be no disturbance among servitor groups in future, he added.
“If there is any issue, the servitors should bring it to the notice of the Trust Board. If anyone will halt the rituals of Lord Lingaraj, we will take strong action,” warned the minister.
PTI