Puri: Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri town will remain closed for the devotees for three hours for a special ritual of the deities on Wednesday.
According to a notice issued by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Tuesday, the ritual of ‘Banakalagi’ or ‘Srimukha Sringara’ of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra will be performed inside the temple on Wednesday.
The ritual will start after the prasad of the second Bhog Mandap is offered to the deities. It will continue from 6 pm to 9 pm.
During the special ritual, the Sevayats (servitors) will perform facial makeup of the deities in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. As per tradition, the facial makeup is carried out in secrecy by a select group of servitors.
Due to the secret nature of the ritual, the devotees will be barred from entering the temple during the three hours from 6 pm to 9 pm, the SJTA said in the notice.
Banakalagi is performed with psecial ingredients including herbs and other materials including ‘kasturi’, ‘harital’, ‘karpura’, ‘kesar’, ‘kalasankha’ and ‘dhalasankha’. Normally it is carried out 8 times in a year.
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