Puri: Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri town will remain out of bounds for devotees for five hours from 5 pm on Wednesday for Banakalagi ritual of the sibling deities.
“The Banakalagi Niti of deities will be conducted today, i.e on 8th day of Shukla Paksha in the month of Magha. Therefore, general darshan will be suspended from 5 pm to 10 pm after second Bhogamandap Bhoga at he temple,” the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) stated.
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.
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.
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