Puri: Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri town will remain out of bounds for devotees for five hours for Banakalagi ritual of the sibling deities on Wednesday.
According to Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), there will be restrictions on entry of temple inside the 12th-century shrine from 5 pm to 10 pm for the special ritual, which will be conducted after second Bhogamandap Bhoga.
Accordingly, the repair work of Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) will remain suspended on March 5-6 to facilitate the rituals.
The ritual is traditionally performed by the Dutta Mohapatra servitors and the Khadiprasad Daitapati servitors during which fresh colours are applied to the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabahadra and Devi Subhadra inside the sanctum sanctorum. Since the rituals are held in secret and hold immense significance, entry for devotees and darshan will not be permitted.
Banakalagi Niti or Shrimukha Sringara is performed several times in a year with natural colours prepared from herbs and other materials including ‘kasturi’, ‘harital’, ‘karpura’, ‘kesar’, ‘kalasankha’ and ‘dhalasankha’.
Devotees can resume darshan after 10 pm once the ritual is complete, it added.
