Bhubaneswar: The daily rituals of Lord Lingaraj have resumed after a 24-hour gap, with the support of the Samartha Nijog servitors.
The deity’s morning rituals, including Mangala Alati, were completed, followed by the Kotha Bhoga (food offering) ceremony.
According to reports, daily rituals at the Lingaraj temple were suspended and the presiding deity had to remain without food on Wednesday due to an agitation by Samartha Nijog servitors who refused to provide raw materials for cooking of the ‘prasad’ in the shrine.
Samartha Nijog members, who sell lamps, flowers and other things required for worshipping Lord Lingaraj, had been provided seven to eight shops inside the temple premises to do business.
They launched agitation demanding the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to allow them to set up shops outside the Lingaraj temple to sell flowers and other puja materials. Subsequently, the servitors on duty closed the temple after Surya Puja and Dwarpal Puja, halting all rituals. As a result, Lord Lingaraj did not receive any offerings. Besides, devotees were denied prasad.
Notably, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred at the Lingaraj Temple. In the past, important rituals like Shiva Pabitraropana and Raksha Bandhan ceremonies were disrupted due to similar disputes between servitor groups.
