Bhubaneswar: Darshan of Lord Jagannath and his siblings at Puri Srimandir will be restricted for the devotees on Monday for four hours due to the ‘Paita Lagi’ ritual of the Holy Trinity.
The darshan of the deities at the 12th-century shrine will be restricted for the devotees from 6.00 pm to 10.00 pm on Monday for the ‘Paita Lagi’ ritual that is held on ‘Baisakha-Krushna Dwadashi tithi’.
Incidentally, this will be the last ‘Paita Lagi’ ritual of the Holy Trinity before the Rath Yatra. This secret ritual is performed every year before the Chandana Yatra.
During the ‘Paita Lagi’, which is a closed-door ritual, only Daitapati servitors will be allowed inside the ‘Garba Gruha’ to perform the ritual. They get divided into three teams and perform the secret ritual.
During the ritual, Daitapati servitors cover the body of the Trinity with a special silk cloth called ‘basunga patta’. Later, sandalwood paste is applied to the silk cloth
While the devotees cannot enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple during the ritual, they can have darshan of other deities on the temple premises.
The ‘Paita Lagi’ ritual is performed twice a year and if necessary it is performed for a third time too.
