Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik triggered a controversy after he had a darshan of lord lingaraj here when the Sahana Mela Darshan was suspended for the devotees on Friday.
It was alleged that Patnaik was escorted into the temple’s Garbha Gruha (sanctum sanctorum) by some Badu servitors though the darshan time had already been suspended for devotees.
Servitors of a rival group reportedly captured Patnaik’s visit on mobile phones and later uploaded the videos on social media.
Sources said the timing of Sahana Mela Darshan is between 6.30 am and 9.30 am every day while Patnaik had darshan of the deity after 10 am.
“In the temple, everybody is equal and no one should be given VIP treatment. Stringent action should be taken against those who violate the norms,” said Brahman Nijog secretary Biranchi Narayan Pati.
Following the controversy, Patnaik said he was not aware of the temple timings. He just accompanied the servitors who escorted him into the temple.
“At the time when I went and some servitors took me to the temple, many other devotees were also offering puja inside,” said Patnaik.
On the other hand, the lingaraj temple administration informed that an inquiry would be conducted and action would be taken against the servitors for violating the norms.
However, some servitors have questioned how mobile phones were allowed inside the temple and demanded a probe into it.
Notably earlier, Union Minister Vijay Goel had triggered a controversy for posting photographs of the sanctum sanctorum of the lingaraj Temple on Twitter in April this year. Similarly, Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon too had faced music for shooting a video inside the temple in March this year.