Puri: Banakalagi rituals of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra will be held on the 12th day of Sukla Pakhya in Odia month of Magha on Wednesday. As a result devotees will be barred from darshan of Trinity for three hours on Wednesday.
According to the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), public darshan will be closed from 6 pm to 9 pm. Devotees can, however, have darshan of the Holy Trinity after 9 pm.
It may be mentioned that the Banakalagi ritual is a secret ritual of the deities. It is also known as ‘Srimukha Sringara’. As part of the rituals, servitors apply fresh colours to the idols of the deities to restore their original look.
The Dutta Mohapatra and Khadiprasad Daitapati servitors have been assigned to perform this ritual. This special ritual will be performed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
The ritual will start after the completion of the ‘bhog’ of the second Bhogmandap.
The word Bankalagi is combination of two words Bana and Lagi. ‘Bana’ means forest and Lagi means to apply. It is learnt that 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.
After Niladree Bije ritual, the secret ritual of ‘Srimukha Sringara’ ritual is performed. Thereafter, the ritual is usually held seven to eight times till the next Niladree Bije ritual.
