Bhubaneswar: The annual Handi Bhanga Jatra of Lingaraj Temple could not be conducted on Saturday, extending the suspension of the centuries-old ritual to the 12th consecutive year. The cancellation has sparked disappointment among devotees in the capital city.
The ritual remained stalled due to an unresolved dispute between two groups of servitors — the Khuntia and Malia communities — over the exclusive right to conduct the ceremony at Kapileswar Temple.
Senior officials of the Khurda district administration, headed by Collector Amrit Ruturaj, held multiple rounds of discussions with representatives of both groups in an effort to break the deadlock. However, the negotiations failed to yield a consensus, as neither side agreed to compromise on their claims.
Traditionally, the Handi Bhanga Jatra marks a ceremonial procession in which Lord Lingaraj is carried from the Lingaraj Temple to the Kapileswar Temple. The ritual is believed to symbolically ward off the adverse effects of the planet Shani.
During the procession, Lord Lingaraj is accompanied by other deities, including Devi Parvati, Devi Durga, and Lord Ananta Vasudev, who are borne in wooden palanquins amid devotional fervour.
At the Kapileswar Temple, priests and devotees prepare prasad in newly crafted earthen pots. As per custom, the pots are broken after the deity departs the shrine to begin the return journey — a symbolic act that gives the festival its name, literally meaning “the breaking of pots.”
With the dispute remaining unresolved, authorities were unable to conduct the ritual this year as well, leaving devotees hopeful for an amicable settlement in the future.
