A dispute among the Kaupinidhari saints and Balkaldhari saints, both known as the disciples of Mahima Gosain, the founder of Mahima cult, again came to the fore as the former group appealed to the Dhenkanal SP and forest officials that the Balkaldharies had damaged a garden maintained by them since 1998 by using JCB machine.

Sources said when Gopinath Mohanty was the district Collector of Dhenkanal, he had allotted around 4 acres of land bearing plot No-2449 from Khata No-449 of Joranda Mouza to grow a flower garden in order to promote tourism potentiality of Mahimagadi shrine at Joranda. In a meeting held on 21.10. 1998 in presence of the saints of Balkaldhari Mahima Samaj and Kaupinidhari Mahima Samaj, presided over by district Collector Mohanty, it was unanimously agreed that Baba Rajkishore Das, the president of Kaupinidhari Mahima Samaja, will bear the expenses and take the responsibility to grow the garden and also maintain it.

But, surprisingly the saints of Balkaldhari Mahima Samaj started to dismantle the garden by using a JCB machine on June  20 claiming that the land had been recorded solely in their favour by the Gondia Tehsildar.

Regretfully, the Balkaldharies always had knocked the doors of the Sub-Collector, the district Collector and the judiciary to accept them as the true inheritor of Mahima Gosain. But the Sub-Collector, the district Collector and the judiciary have always passed the order that Balkaldharies and Kaupinidharies have equal say as the inheritor of the properties of Mahima Gosain.

Notably, when Mahima Gosain got enlightment after 24 years of meditation, Sadananda Sabar and Bhima Bhoi had become his first disciples towards the year 1870. Mahima Gosain was asking his desciples to wear the bark of one kind of tree named as Kumbhi. But, as the number of his desciples increased, it was difficult to find Kumbhi tree and collect its bark. Therefore, Mahima Gosain asked his desciples to use clothes of saffron colour who in due course of time were identified as Kaupinidharies.

So, a division among the disciples occurred over non-availability of tree bark. It is not intended to claim any  superiority of the one over the other, said sources.