Bhubaneswar: A discord between two groups of priests disrupted this year’s annual religious rituals at an ancient temple in Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
The trouble between Khuntia and Malia – two servitor groups — came to a head on March 12 and Lingaraj Temple failed to conduct its annual march of its presiding deity.
“The Khuntias have been forcefully kept away from their service by the Malias,” Biranchi Narayan Pati, secretary of Brahman Nijoga told The Telegraph newspaper.
He said his group had informed the temple authorities about the three-month-old conflict. “They did not try to settle the matter,” he alleged.
A compromise was reached March 14 after the Endowment Commissioner assured to settle the dispute among the servitors within 15 days.
The commissioner also announced that he would seek an explanation from the groups and act against the servitors responsible for halting the services at the eleventh century shrine.
The temple’s presiding deity Lord Lingaraj visits another temple on Saturday after Shivratri and returns after being worshipped there. Members of two priest groups in Lingaraj temple refused to do the rituals this year. Consequently, the temple could not conduct the rituals associated with the festival. The led to cancellation of the march of the deity known as ‘Handi Bhanga’ yatra.
The temple also stopped preparing the prasad because of the .conflict. The tussle had also halted daily services at the temple.
The devotees, however, were allowed to have pay obeisance to the deity.
“The ritual (handi bhangaa yatra) is a thousand-year-old tradition and the inefficiency of temple authorities led to its disruption. The state government should intervene immediately,” said president of the manch Bhisma Narayan Nayak.
“The discord between the servitors should not hamper the rituals of the God,” said Anirban Pati, a devotee from Nayagarh.
Lingaraj Temple is dedicated to Harihara, a form of Shiva. It is the largest and one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the eastern Indian state of Orissa. The temple is the most prominent landmark of the Bhubaneswar city and a major tourist attraction of the state.
The temple complex has 50 other shrines and is enclosed by a large compound wall.
It gets an average of 6,000 visitors on a normal day and hundreds of thousands daily during festivals, especially on Shivaratri.
Lingaraj, literally means the king of Lingam, the iconic form or Shiva. Shiva is commonly referred as Tribhuvaneshwara (also called Bhubaneswar), the master of three worlds, namely, heaven, earth and netherworld.
The Lingaraja temple priests come are from two communities, namely Brahman Nijog and Badu Nijog. The Badu are non-Brahmin servant groups. The Badu group elects officers during the annual Sandalwood festival. Every Badu undergoes three distinct rites, namely, ear-piercing, marriage and god-touching.