Bhubaneswar: Puri Jagannath Temple will be out of bounds for devotees for four hours on Wednesday on the occasion of ‘Banaka Lagi’ or Srimukha sringara ritual of Lord Jagannath and his siblings.
Devotees will not be allowed darshan of the deities for four hours from 6 pm to 10 pm on Wednesday as the Jaya Bijay Dwar will be closed from the inside.
The servitors will perform the ‘Banaka Lagi’ ritual in the Garva Gruha. The Holy Trinity (Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra) along with Lord Sudarshan of Srimandir will adorn a new look after the ritual.
As per tradition, the ‘shringar’ rituals of the deities are generally held seven to eight times a year starting with the one after the Niladri Bije ritual following Rath Yatra.
During the ‘Banaka Lagi’ ritual, rare forest products are used to prepare the four types of colours – haritala (red), hengula (yellow), sankha (white) and black and these are then applied to the face of the deities. Datta servitors of Puri Srimandir perform the Banaka Lagi ritual of the deities.
