Rituals behind schedule in Lingaraj temple

BHUBANESWAR: Devotees in droves thronged the 11th century Lingaraj temple to offer prayers and invoke blessings of the Lord on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri. The Old Town area, also known as Ekamra  Kshetra, was abuzz with activity as devotees started queuing up at the Shaiva shrine since Sunday midnight. From the old to the young, a crowd of over 2.5 lakh, stood in serpentine queues to offer special prayers.The temple doors opened at around 3.40 am with the ‘aalti’ and priests allowed ‘Sahan Mela’ or public darshan of the deity from 4 am to 11 am. During this period, more than a lakh devotees took turns to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. “While NCC cadets sprinkled water on the devotees, providing relief from the heat, the temple administration supplied water pouches,” said chief executive of the Lingaraj temple administration Abani Patnaik. However, by evening, the rituals were running late by an hour.  The rituals culminated with the ‘Mahadeepa’ being lifted atop the temple at 12:30 pm, 2 hours 30 minutes behind schedule, much to the disappointment of pilgrims, sevayats and the police.Following the murderous attack on the main servitor, Bhagaban Samartha of Samartha Nijog servitorship - who was supposed to raise the most auspicious ‘Mahadeep’ - the temple administration arranged for alternative priests from the Nijog to conduct the ceremony.DCP Nitinjeet Singh said around 25 platoons of police force were deployed in and around the temple. Vehicular movement was restricted and traffic diverted from various points to ensure smooth movement of people to the shrine. Elsewhere in the City, major Shiva temples including Jaleswar in Unit VIII witnessed a huge gathering.