Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneswar – Administration

Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneswar – Administration

King Yayati Keshari, believed to be the founder of the Lingaraja temple, deputed Brahmins who had migrated to south India as temple priests over the local Brahmins on account of their increased knowledge of Shaivism, due to increasing invasions from Muslim invaders. The focus was to enhance the temple practices from tribal rites to Agama rituals. While the exact number of castes involved in the nijogas (practices) is not known, Brahmins, tribal worshippers and inmates from Untouchable castes are believed to be part of the setup.

Bose (1958) identified 41 services with the involvement of 22 separate castes and Mahaptra (1978) identified 30 services. It is understood from the records that kings and temple managers of different times introduced or discontinued certain services, fairs, offerings and caste-centered core services during their regime. As of 2012, the temple practised 36 different services (nijogas). In modern times, the Lingaraja temple priests are from three communities, namely Pujapanda Nijog, Brahman Nijog and Badu Nijog.

The Badu are non-Brahmin servant groups, whose origin is not ascertained due to unavailability of authentic records, while they are described as Vadu in chapter 62 of the Ekamrapurana. The caste group of Badu is called Niyoga, which elects the officers every year during the Sandalwood festival. Every Badu undergoes three distinct rites, namely, ear-piercing, marriage and god-touching. Historically, the Badus performed five different temple duties - Paliabadu and Pharaka, which were considered important and Pochha, Pahada and Khataseja, which were considered inferior.

From 1962, only Paliabadu and Pharaka practises are followed and the others are discontinued. The Badus also carry out ablution and dressing of the images of Siddha Ganesh and Gopalini. The temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple is guarded by security personnel deputed by the Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar and security guards appointed by the temple administration.

The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors every day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. The Shivaratri festival during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors. As of 2011, the annual income of Lingaraja temple from hundis (donation boxes) is around ₹1.2 million per annum. Another ₹4 million is collected annually from other sources like rents from shops, cycle stands and agriculture lands. Starting 2011, the temple charges an amount for six types of religious worship (special pujas) carried out by the devotees.