Devotees give final touch to a diya which will be lit at Loknath temple in Puri on Shiv Ratri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, March 9: Non-cooperation by a group of priests at Lingaraj temple today delayed rituals by more than four hours and kept the administration worried about smooth observance of the annual Shiv Ratri festival tomorrow.

Members of the Pujapanda Nijog said that the temple administration did not take any initiative to remove a trishul and an om symbol which was found stuck on the temple wall near the Dwarapal statue yesterday.

“We even put this matter for discussion at the Shiv Ratri preparatory meeting in the evening in which the deputy commissioner of police and the district collector were present. We had asked the authorities to remove it. But, this morning we found those things were still there. We had no other way but to stop our activities to protest against this inaction,” said Pujapanda Nijog secretary Sachikant Pujapanda.

He said that they resumed their daily activities only after the temple administration took steps to remove the trishul and the om symbol from the temple wall.

Chief executive officer of the temple administration Abani Pattnaik said the trishul might have been stuck there by some members of the Badu Nijog (another group of priests).

“The Badu Nijog members removed the objects following a discussion,” he said.

Non-cooperation between different groups of priests at Lingaraj temple is not a new phenomenon. Clash of interest between these groups had earlier delayed temple rituals on a number of occasions.

Lack of coordination between the priest groups has even delayed the ceremony for lifting the mahadeep (auspicious light) to the temple top during the Shiv Ratri several times in the past.

This year, the administration has taken the decision for lifting the mahadeep to the temple top between 9.30pm and 10pm tomorrow. This auspicious event is witnessed by lakhs of devotees.

“We have talked to the three nijog members who have given their assent to stick to the schedule. We hope to be able to perform the rituals according to the plan this time,” said the administrator.

The nijog members also said that if there were no hiccups or problems, the rituals would be done on time and the auspicious light lifting event would be performed according to plans. The temple would be open for the devotees for darshan (auspicious viewing) from 3.30am to 11am tomorrow.

Officials of the city police have adopted several measures for better security arrangement during the daylong festival in which lakhs of devotees would participate from the state and outside. Around 15 platoons of police force would be deployed around the temple. The deputy commissioner of police will take care of the overall security arrangements while one additional deputy commissioner and three assistant commissioners will assist him.

“Our primary work will be to provide security to the devotees along with maintaining law and order and controlling the crowd. We will erect barricades and devotees will have to enter into the temple in queues,” said deputy commissioner of police Nitinjeet Singh.

The temple administration will also keep a watch on the devotees on the temple premises through a number of closed-circuit television cameras.