Darshan of Deities to be Restricted for 4 Hours in Srimandir Puri Today for Banakalagi Rituals

Puri: The Banakalagi ritual of Lord Jagannath will be performed in Srimandir of Puri on Wednesday. Because of this, the Jagannath temple in Puri will remain closed for four hours for devotees, from 4 pm to 8 pm, after the end of the second Bhogamandap ritual, informed the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).

The door of Jaya Vijaya will be closed for this ritual. Along with the Dutta Mohapatra Sevaks, the Palia Pujapanda sevayats, the Garabadu sevayats, the Puspalakas, the Changada Mekapa sevakas, and the Mudulis will take part in the Banakalagi ritual.

After a ‘Maha Snana’ following Banakalagi, the temple will be reopened to devotees to have darshan of the deities.

According to cultural experts, Banakalagi derives its name from ‘Bana’ which means forest and ‘Lagi’ means to apply.

Certain and rare forest products are used to prepare four types of colours- such as haritala (red), hengula (yellow), sankha (white), and black are applied on the face of the deities.

The door of Jaya Vijaya will be closed for this ritual. After the evening vog is over, the Datta Mahapatra will decorate the idols with prasadhan prepared from natural resources. The Lord’s face will be painted with traditional colours like Hingul, green, musk, red, white, and black.