Bhubaneswar: Rituals at the 11th-century Lingaraj Temple were disrupted on the first Monday of the holy month of ‘Shravan’ after a dispute between two servitor groups over the distribution of ‘Jalalagi Pauna’ (remuneration for the ritual of offering sacred water), leaving devotees unable to witness the customary puja.Thousands of devotees from across the state queued up outside the temple since early Monday to offer water to Lord Shiva, but said none performed the rituals for them. Cuttack’s Ajit Maharana, who waited outside the temple since 4 am to offer water to the deity, said, “I was only allowed to do jalabhishek (offering water) of Lord Lingaraj. But no priest present inside performed the puja for me. I brought water from Gadgadia Ghat along the Mahanadi river in Cuttack and walked 30km to the temple but could not perform a puja,” he said.According to the temple sources, the disagreement had surfaced on Sunday evening between Pujapanda Nijog and Badu Nijog servitors, resulting in a disruption of the temple’s ‘nitikanti’ (daily rituals).While the Badu servitors carried out their assigned duties on Monday morning, the Pujapanda servitors abstained from performing the puja, bringing the deity’s regular worship and special rituals to a halt.Notwithstanding the disruption, thousands of ‘Kanwariyas’ (pilgrims) and Shiva devotees continued to visit the temple to offer water to Lord Lingaraj. However, many devotees expressed disappointment as they could not participate in or witness the regular puja.The impasse was resolved later in the day after the temple administration convened a meeting with representatives of the servitor groups. The meeting, chaired by Lingaraj Temple executive officer Ramesh Chandra Jena, was attended by Ekamra MLA Babu Singh, along with the presidents and office-bearers of the Pujapanda Nijog, Brahmin Nijog and Badu Nijog.During the meeting, participants discussed the disruption in rituals and the inconvenience caused to the devotees. Following the deliberations, MLA Singh said the views of all the nijogs had been taken into account, and it was unanimously decided to put aside differences and ensure that the temple’s rituals are conducted smoothly as per tradition.Any unresolved issues would be taken up at a meeting of the Lingaraj Temple Trust Board, which is expected to be held within the next four days, he added. The trust will hear the concerns of all stakeholders and work towards a permanent resolution to prevent such disruptions in future.Following the meeting, the temple administration said normalcy had been restored and the regular conduct of rituals resumed.
