Odisha government forms panel to finalise RoR for Lingaraj Temple

BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to resolve the frequent strife between servitor groups of Lingaraj Temple over ownership of rituals, the state government has constituted a two-member committee to review and finalise the Record of Rights (RoR) of the 11th century shrine.
The committee, headed by retired judge of Orissa High Court Durga Prasanna Choudhury with Sanskrit professor Prafulla Kumar Mishra as the member, met for the first time on Tuesday. Choudhury said the committee will interact with all the servitors under various nijogs of the shrine, check their legal documents of rights over rituals and also study the existing scriptures and the precedence as far as rituals are concerned. It will submit a report on reorganisation and preparation of a final RoR to the state government.
The Law department had in May this year directed formation of such a committee in wake of frequent disruptions in rituals of Lord Lingaraj due to disputes between servitor groups. In January this year, Lord Lingaraj had remained hungry for over 24 hours after a dispute erupted between the Mahasuara and Badu servitors over the conduct of the 'Ghruta Kamala Lagi' ritual on Makar Sankranti.

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