Lifting of Mahadeepa delayed at Lingaraj shrine

A tight security blanket was thrown around the temple premises. The Commissionerate Police imposed traffic restrictions in the Old Town area in view of the rush of devotees.
Devotees light diyas on the premises of Lingaraj temple on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, in Bhubaneswar on Saturday (Photo| Debadatta Mallick)
Devotees light diyas on the premises of Lingaraj temple on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, in Bhubaneswar on Saturday (Photo| Debadatta Mallick)

BHUBANESWAR: Amid alleged conflict between servitor nijogs over rituals and mismanagement in crowd movement, the lifting of ceremonial ‘mahadeepa’ atop the Lingaraj temple which marks the culmination of Maha Shivaratri was delayed by over three hours on Saturday. The ritual could only be completed well past midnight.

As thousands of devotees waited late into the evening, the ritual kept dragging. Minister Ashok Chandra Panda, also a local MLA, had to hold a discussion with the servitors and requested them to streamline the rituals.

Earlier, lakhs of devotees thronged the 11th-century shrine throughout the day. The temple doors opened at 3 am and ‘aalati’ was done at 3.30 am. With a large crowd waiting outside, priests allowed the ‘Sahan Mela’ (public darshan) of the deity from 4 am to 11.30 am. Lakhs of devotees took turns entering the sanctum sanctorum of the temple to make offerings to Lord Shiva.

However, all the evening rituals of the presiding deity were delayed by nearly three hours which resulted in further delays in the raising of the ceremonial lamp. The raising of the ‘mahadeepa’ was initially set for 10 pm by the temple trust board.

While the reason behind the delay was not immediately known by the trust officials, sources attributed it to differences between the nijogs over rituals. Brahmana nijog members, on the other hand, blamed the delay on the mismanagement in devotees’ movement into the shrine in the morning. Sources said members of all the nijogs had during the Shivaratri preparatory meeting hinted at the delay in the lifting of mahadeepa due to lack of efforts by the temple trust and government in solving long-pending issues related to rights over rituals of various nijogs.

The devotees, who were on a day-long fast, waited patiently for the final ritual to be over after which they broke their fast. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation deployed its personnel to provide drinking water to devotees besides undertaking sanitation work around the temple. While the temple was beautifully decorated, ‘bhajan samarohs’ were being held round the clock. Different religious organisations and institutions organised cultural programmes in the evening to celebrate the festival.

A tight security blanket was thrown around the temple premises. The Commissionerate Police imposed traffic restrictions in the Old Town area in view of the rush of devotees. Devotees also stood in serpentine queues since the wee hours of the day to offer prayers at temples of Lord Shiva across the city including Jaleswar, Nilakantha and Kapileswar. All the temples were beautifully illuminated for the occasion.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com