Bhubaneswar: Rituals at Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar were disrupted again on Wednesday following a land dispute between Brahman Nijog and other servitor groups.
According to sources, the singhdwara of the 11th-century shrine was opened this morning but the ‘Magala Alati could not be conducted due to the fallout.
The Brahman Nijog and Puja panda Nijog allegedly halted the rituals demanding their share of Lingaraj land. While the HC had ordered the Brahman Nijog and the Puja Panda Nijog to return the disputed lands to Lord Lingaraj, a market complex having 18 shops being constructed over 2 acres by Badu Nijog was allowed, which became a bone of contention between the servitor groups.
In 2019, the Endowments Commission had stayed the construction owing to a complaint filed by the two nijogs on the issue. The Badu Nijog moved the HC, which, a week back, allowed the group to resume the work on the ground that the servitors had no other source of income and also on condition that they prove ownership of the land.
“If the Endowment department considers the High Court ‘one-sided’ order to be justified then why the unsettled lands were taken away from the servitors? The then King had given those lands to us. We would stop Lord Lingaraj’s rituals indefinitely if those are not returned to us,” Brahman Nijog secretary Biranchi Narayan Pati said, while terming it as a conspiracy against them.
Refuting the allegation, the Badu Nijog claimed they were the first servitors of the Lord and the King had actually given those lands to them. “Noone has the right to disrupt Lord Lingaraj’s rituals. The Brahman Nijog was given property by the King to serve the Lord. We want strict action against servitors because of whom the rituals have come to a halt at temple.” Badu Nijog secretary Kamalakant Pujapanda said.
Citing a previous court order, Pujapanda said that Justice MM Das had ruled that the servitors who do not perform their service at the temple should be asked to leave the temple for good and Lord Lingaraj’s property enjoyed by them should be confiscated too. “I think this is high time the endowment commissioner enforces this order,” he added.
Rituals were also suspended at the temple over alleged illegal construction by the Badu Nijog on a property owned by Lord Lingaraj on the banks of Gangua river in September 2019.
In August this year, the presiding deity had to go without food as infighting between two groups of priests over an annual ritual of offering sacred threads worsened, leading to suspension of all services.
