JAGATSINGHPUR: Rituals in the famous 16th-century Sarala temple of Kanakpur have been disrupted for the past two days following a dispute between the two head priests over performing rituals.
The temple is also facing the problem of fund crunch due to non-collection of Rs 34.97 lakh from the bidders for running ‘bhog’ and ‘diya’ shops. Head priest Ranjan Kumar Panda had filed a petition in the Endowment Commission for allowing him to perform rituals in Sarala temple. Ranjan stated that the head priest of the other group, Pragyandipta Panda, has been restraining him from performing rituals in the temple.
Adjudicating the case, the Endowment Commission in May had ordered that keeping in view the tradition, custom and rituals, petitioners Ranjan Panda along with the second group Pragyandipta Panda, are declared as head priests (Badapandas) of the deity having equal rights to perform all special rituals. Both the groups are considered as two branches of common ancestor, namely Sadashiba Badapanda, the order stated. The Endowment Commission had declared that special rituals performed by Badapanda would be rotated between the two head priests annually.
On Thursday, on the occasion of Chitalagi Amabasya, Ranjan Panda was to perform special rituals on rotation basis. But the other group protested thus disrupting the rituals in the temple for the past two days.
Sub-Collector Mahendra Prasad Mohanty accompanied by Tirtol police rushed to the spot to restore normalcy in Sarala temple.
The devotees, meanwhile, have expressed their resentment over the conflict between the head priests and also disruption of rituals.The Trust Board had invited tenders from local bidders in March last year for setting up Bhog and Diya shops and also for parking of vehicles. Three bidders were selected with the condition to clear the bid amount by November 17, 2018.But a total of `34.97 lakh is still pending towards clearance of dues by all the three bidders resulting in fund crunch faced by Sarala temple.