Bhubaneswar, March 13: Rituals at the ancient Lingaraj temple were disrupted for the second consecutive day today due to a discord between the servitor groups of Khuntia and Malia.

Sources in the temple said the controversy started on Saturday after the handi bhangaa yatra of the Lord could not be performed . The conflict also led to stopping of preparation of the prasad of the lord.

"The Khuntias have been forcefully kept away from their service by the Malias. Though the conflict has arisen three months ago and they have also brought the matter to the notice of authorities, they did not try to settle the matter," alleged secretary of Brahman Nijoga Biranchi Narayan Pati.

The devotees, however, were allowed to have a darshan of the deity despite the disruption of rituals. Various servitors of the temple have also threatened not to perform rituals until the matter is settled. "It is impossible to carry out the rituals in the absence of service by a section of servitors. The temple authorities are solely responsible for the fiasco," alleged another servitor.

District collector Niranjan Sahu said that they were in constant touch with the temple's endowment commissioner on the issue. "We will shortly convene a high-level meeting with all sections of servitors to settle the dispute," he said.

On the other hand, several organisations have threatened to stage a demonstration over the issue. The Ekamra Janajagaran Manch will gherao the office of endowment commissioner in the city on Monday.

"The ritual (handi bhangaa yatra) is a thousand-year-old tradition and the inefficiency of temple authorities led to its disruption. The state government should intervene immediately," said president of the manch Bhisma Narayan Nayak.

"The discord between the servitors should not hamper the rituals of the God," said Anirban Pati, a devotee from Nayagarh.