BHUBANESWAR: The Lingaraj temple on Sunday plunged into turmoil on the eve of Maha Shivaratri festival, that would draw more than a lakh devotees and pilgrims, following a reported murder attempt on a main servitor. Servitor Bhagaban Samartha was found lying in a critically injured condition at a graveyard near Old Town under the Airfield police limits. His neck was slit, hands slashed and stomach stabbed by unknown miscreants. He was rushed to the SCB Medical, Cuttack. Samartha belongs to the Samarth Nijog servitorship and is the priest who would have raised the most auspicious “Mahadeep” on Monday. Raising of the Mahadeep is the most important ritual of Maha Shivaratri. Devotees break their day-long fast after completion of the ritual in the Shiva temples. The Mahadeep would be taken atop the temple between 9.30 pm and 10 pm on Monday. While the temple administration huddled to draw alternatives, the assault is allegedly a fallout of a fierce internal dispute in the Samartha Nijog body. Bhagaban had been conducting the Mahadeep rituals for the last few years, which has reportedly been opposed by a section within the organisation. The matter had also come up during the preparatory meeting of the Maha Shivaratri festival under the aegis of the Commissionerate Police on Saturday. The temple administration, however, allayed fears of any disruption in the rituals. “We have alternative priests from the Nijog to conduct the Mahadeep ceremony. The rituals will be held as per the tradition and on time,” chief executive of the Lingaraj temple administration Abani Patnaik said. Bhubaneswar DCP Nitinjit Singh said, Bhagaban was found from the graveyard site in an injured condition. He was immediately shifted to the SCBMCH. “We are investigating the case and search for the miscreants is on,” he said. Meanwhile, heavy security cover has been thrown around it. More than 25 platoons of police would be deployed at the temple for the festival.
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