Sevayat falls during Mahadeepa lifting as chaos marks Maha Shivaratri at Lingaraj

BHUBANESWAR: A sevayat sustained injuries after he fell down from a height of around 20 ft while lifting the Mahadeepa atop the Lingaraj temple on Wednesday night even as the Maha Shivaratri celebration at the shrine was marred by serious mismanagement throughout the day.

The injured, Jogya Samarth, belongs to the Samartha Nijog. Sources said the sevayat had climbed nearly 20 ft when he slipped and sustained multiple injuries. He has been admitted to a local hospital. Collector Chanchal Rana said the circumstances under which the sevayat fell will be investigated.

Commotion prevailed at the temple’s Singhadwara and Dakhina Dwara from morning through the day as devotees, who arrived in large numbers for observing Maha Shivaratri, jostled to get inside and offer prayers. Two women sustained injuries in the melee.

As per sources, thousands of devotees queued up outside the 11th century shrine since 3 am. The temple gates were opened at 2.30 am and after ‘mangala alati’ and ‘abakas’, sahana mela darshan of the presiding deity was allowed for the public from 6 am onwards.

However, the crowd swelled within the shrine and the sanctum sanctorum when devotees, VIPs and pass-holders were allowed unrestricted entry through three gates while exit was allowed through only one gate. General devotees were allowed through Singhadwara, and Uttara Dwara was meant for family members of sevayats, VVIPs and VIPs while Dakhina Dwara was used for entry of pass-holders.

Amid the rush to enter the temple, two women were injured near Singhadwara while commotion was noticed for a brief period near the Gumuti Dwara of Dakhina Ghara when a group of sevayats allegedly allowed entry of pass holders and VIPs through it although it was earmarked as exit point of devotees from the sanctum sanctorum.

The situation was brought under control by DCP Pinak Mishra and collector Chanchal Rana. While devotees and sevayat nijogs blamed the local administration and police for mismanagement and lack of crowd control, the officials attributed the situation to overcrowding. “Only a few number of passes were issued this time. But the crowd this year was much more than what it was last year,” said the collector.

While darshan was closed before 11 am, it was again allowed at around 12.35 pm when devotees entered the 11th century shrine till its Ada Katha (space outside the sanctum sanctorum).

In the evening, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, MP Aparajita Sarangi and MLA Babu Singh offered prayers at the shrine. While all the rituals throughout the day were performed on time, that of bringing 108 pitchers of water from Brahma Ghat of Bindu Sagar was delayed by 15 to 20 minutes, resulting in a 40-minute delay in lifting of Mahadeepa atop the shrine. The Mahadeepa ritual was resultantly delayed by more than half-an-hour.