Bhubaneswar, Oct 25: Rituals of Lord Lingaraj in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar was reportedly deferred on Wednesday for a dispute among the Nijogs over land rights.
Following no amicable settlement on the issue, the presiding lord and the side deities were left without any worship and bhogs. Apart from it, the other rituals of the deities were suspended after the Mangal Alati today.
Sources said that, today’s disruption is the fallout of a dispute over a piece of unsettled land belonging to Lord Lingaraj.
Sources said that a few pieces of land belonging to the Lord Lingaraj which were enjoyed by the Pujapanda Nijog and Badu Nijog for years, were ordered for reversal in pursuance of a court order. Meanwhile, the Badu Nijog constructed a market complex here on the basis of the order. However, the two former Nijogs challenged it in the court and urged the Endowment Commission to return back the said landed properties to them.
Today after an oral altercation over the pending land issue, the Puja Panda Nijog and the Brahmin Nijog stopped performing the puja and offering any bhogs to the deities, source added.
Comments of either the endowment officials or the office bearers of the Nijogs in this connection, are yet to be received.
