‘Banakalagi’ Ritual: Srimandir To Remain Closed For 5 Hrs Today

Puri: The Holy Trinity in Puri Srimandir will adorn a new look after a special make-up ritual known as the ‘Banakalagi’ to be held on Wednesday.

In view of the secret rituals, the general darshan of the sibling deities will be restricted for about five hours from 5 PM to 10 PM, the temple administration SJTA informed.

The formal procedure will be performed on the second Bhoga Mandap behind the Garuda pillar of Jagamohan.

As per tradition, the ‘shringar’ rituals of the sibling deities are generally held seven to eight times a year starting with the one after the Niladri Bije ritual following Rath Yatra.

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 secret ritual takes a few hours of judicious painting.