Bhubaneswar: The rituals at Lingaraj Temple have remained suspended for the last three days following a scuffle between two groups of servitors over Makar Sankranti rituals.
Owing to the disruption of major rituals in the temple, the deity has also not been offered ‘bhoga’ while Makar Sankranti rituals were not observed in the temple built in the 11th century.
Expressing concern over the issue, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan held a meeting with representatives of different servitor groups of the temple Wednesday.
However, no conclusion was reached at the meeting as ‘Brahmin Nijog’, one of the servitors’ group, boycotted it.
The ‘Brahmin Nijog’ and ‘Badu Nijog’ had disagreements over various ritualistic duties resulting in the standoff since Monday evening.
The minister appealed to the servitors to resume the rituals at the shrine immediately.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Harichandan said a meeting of Lingaraj Temple Trust Board will be held on an emergency basis to discuss the issue.
“Disruption in rituals of Lord Lingaraj should not be tolerated. The Trust Board is likely to take a decision on this matter,” he said.
Stating that there are some anomalies in the Record of Rights (RoR) of the temple, the minister said 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 the servitor groups in future, he added.
“If there is any issue, the servitors should bring it to the notice of the Trust Board. Without doing so, if anyone will halt the rituals of Lord Lingaraj, we will not tolerate it and take strong action,” warned the minister.
PTI
