Puri: The Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri town will remain closed for the devotees for four hours on Wednesday for the ‘Banakalagi’ rituals of the Lords.
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), in a notification on Tuesday, said the temple will remain closed to the devotees as the rituals will be performed secretly. The rituals will start after offering the prasad to the deities on ‘Bhoga Mandap’ inside the temple.
Due to the secret rituals, the darshan of the deities will remain closed from 5 pm to 9 pm. But the devotees can have darshan before the closure of the doors of the main temple, the notification stated.
The ‘Banakalagi’ is generally performed by the Dutta Mohapatra servitors. Different types of natural colours like Hingula, Haritala, Kasturi, Keshar and glue of Kaintha are used to prepare Banaka, which is used to decorate the sibling deities. As part of the rituals, the deities will be decorated with different colours to restore their original look.
