BHUBANESWAR: Special preparations are being made at the Lingaraj temple to welcome President Droupadi Murmu to the shrine on February 11. Murmu will be arriving in the state for a two-day visit on Friday and this will be her first visit to the temple after becoming the President.
She will visit the ancillary shrines on the premises and offer prayers in the sanctum sanctorum during her 50-minute visit. A meeting of the temple trust was held on Thursday where the preparations were reviewed by the collector.
She will arrive at the shrine at 9:10 am and will visit the Siddhi Binayak temple before proceeding to the sanctum sanctorum. After offering prayers, the President will have ‘darshan’ at Parvati temple, Bhubaneswar temple and Brushaba (Nandi) temple within the premises, said Kamalakanta Badu, chief of the Badu Nijog that will carry out the rituals for her.
During her visit, the temple will be closed to general devotees. Owing to security reasons, only nine members of the temple trust and Palia sevayats of the ancillary temples will be present in the shrine during her visit.
The temple trust has decided to gift a photograph of Damodar Vesha of Lord Lingaraj, which is done during the Shivaratri and Kartik month rituals, to the President apart from the Kotha Bhoga prepared by Maha Suara servitors body of the temple and a Pata Uttaria (silk shawl). She will also interact with the trust members before leaving the temple. A security check was conducted in the temple on Thursday.
Meanwhile, members of Puja Panda and Mahasuara nijogs have written to the temple trust head resenting the lack of permission to them to remain present in the temple during the President’s visit. According to the decision taken by the trust, Badu Nijog secretary will accompany the President which has not gone down well with the two other nijogs.
During the meeting on the day, Badu Nijog members claimed that traditionally they have been attending all the presidents and prime ministers who have visited the temple so far. However, Puja Panda and Mahasuara nijogs said there is no reason why other nijogs should be denied an opportunity to conduct rituals for the President. The issue remained inconclusive.