Shivaratri puja performed to Shivalinga at Aland dargah amid tight security

The Mahashivaratri puja to the Raghava Chaitanya Shivalinga within the premises of the Hazrat Ladle Mashak Dargah in Aland town of Kalaburagi district was performed on Sunday amid tight police security.

The puja was performed after the High Court of Karnataka in Kalaburagi granted permission to 13 petitioners to conduct the rituals, including Rudrabhisheka, between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. A group of people performed rituals at the Shivalinga between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. They were thoroughly frisked by police during their entry, and mobile phones and electronic devices were prohibited inside the premises.

Security deployment included nearly 1,000 personnel from the District Armed Reserve (DAR) and Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) platoons. At least 40 CCTV cameras and four drones were used to monitor the area and ensure the safety of devotees.

The district administration has imposed prohibitory orders across Aland town under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which came into effect on Saturday night (10 p.m.) and will remain in force till Sunday midnight, with roads barricaded and vehicular movement restricted; buses were stopped approximately 2 km away from the town.

Meanwhile, the dargah managing committee challenged the High Court’s order before the Supreme Court, seeking to prevent pujas on Waqf property. The Supreme Court, however, declined to entertain the plea under Article 32 of the Constitution and dismissed it as withdrawn. With judicial clearance, the rituals were conducted peacefully under strict police supervision.

The court’s order allowed the rituals to be conducted by two groups of petitioners. Siddaramaiah Hiremath was permitted individually to perform the puja, while Gurushant Tengli led a second group comprising 12 members.

Puja being performed to the Raghava Chaitanya Shivalinga situated within the Ladle Mashak Dargah premises in Aland town in Kalaburagi on Sunday.
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The petitioners who performed the puja included Siddaramaiah Hiremath, Gurushant Tengli, Harshanand Subhash Guttedar, Rakesh Jamadar, Shivaraj Bali, Ashok Bagali, Mallikarjun Savalagi, Shivaputra Nadigeri, Mallikarjun Kandgol, Veeranna Hattargi, Raju Chauhan, Hanumanthrao Patil, Ravi Madankar and Malakanna Hirepujari.

In 2022, Aland town witnessed heightened tensions at the dargah when the Urs celebration coincided with Mahashivaratri. Clashes between communities during that period led to the arrest of 167 people. Authorities imposed prohibitory orders from February 27 to March 3 that year, while police recovered stones, sticks, and rods that had been stockpiled on the terraces of houses, underscoring the volatility of the situation at the time. The tensions prompted the high-security measures adopted for the annual ritual on Mahashivaratri.