During Makar Sankranti, special rituals are observed in the Lingaraj temple for three days. The rituals begin on the eve of Makar Sankranti with ‘Pushyabhisheka Sandhya Dhupa’ ritual. This involves bringing the deity outside of the sanctum sanctorum and seating him atop the ‘Makara Mandap’ located within the premises of the Lingaraj temple. On the day of Makar Sankranti, ‘Makara Ghee’ or ‘Ghruta Kamala’ is offered to the deity in a ritual called ‘Ghruta Kamala Lagi’. It is prepared using milk collected from some specific ‘Samantra’ households of Badu Sahi. It is believed that the ‘Ghruta Kamala’ is applied to relieve the diety of winter dryness.
According to reports, the milk is boiled and churned by Badu Nijog to prepare the ghee and the Ghruta Kamala is offered both by Badu Nijog and Mahasuara Nijog servitors. On Monday, the Badu Nijog servitors insisted on performing the ritual of offering the Ghruta Kamala alone without the participation of Mahasuara servitors. The latter protested against it. As a consequence, the Ghruta Kamala could not be offered after the ‘Pushyabhisheka Sandhya Dhupa’ and the deity has been kept seated on the Makara Mandap for two days now. The temple is open for devotees but the rituals are suspended.
“We have been doing this ritual every year and even the temple administration is aware of it. In fact, the ghee after application to the Lord, is distributed among Badu Nijog families. If Mahasuara Nijog members, who run the sacred kitchen, claim ownership over the ritual just because the ghee is cooked, that cannot be allowed”, a Badu Nijog servitor said.
The temple administration has been trying to pacify the dispute but neither party is ready to compromise on their stand. Speaking about the Ghruta Kamala ritual, Biranchi Narayan, secretary of Brahmana Nijog, said that the first round of Ghruta Kamala Lagi is performed by Mahasuara servitors and then Badu servitors take over. “We are not aware why they protested this time”, he added.
A high-level meeting was reportedly held in which Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, Debottar commissioner, Khurda collector, Secretary of Law department, local MLA, and the servitors of Badu Nijogas were present. However, the meeting ended without a conclusion. The meeting will be held again later today in the presence of the ‘Brahmana Nijogs’ as they were absent during the high-level meeting.
The law minister also announced an investigation into the matter and said that the state govt is contemplating appointing a single-member Commission headed by a retired High Court judge. He said that an emergency meeting of the Trust Board will be held this afternoon where servitors will be requested to resume the rituals.
#WATCH | #Bhubaneswar | Dispute between Lingaraj Temple servitors: "An emergency meeting of the Trust Board will be held this afternoon where servitors will be requested to resume the rituals… There are some legal glitches in the temple Satwalipi… Government is contemplating… pic.twitter.com/QYAGN5tz6f
— Argus News (@ArgusNews_in) January 15, 2025
The Law Minister has issued a stern warning to the involved parties, indicating that strict measures may be enforced if the dispute is not resolved soon. “This is highly condemnable. If there was indeed any problem, they could have just sat together and come up with a resolution. Just stopping the rituals of Lord Lingaraj is highly condemnable,” Law Minister Harichandan said.
The stalemate has created anger among devotees who have condemned both groups and demanded action against them. One angry devotee said, “Lord Lingaraj has been in hunger for the last three days. It is because of the sevayats that Lord Lingaraj has to remain empty stomach. This is highly condemnable. I call upon the administration to take stringent action in this connection.”
