Banaka Lagi rituals of Lord Jagannath today, Temple to remain closed for 4 hours

Puri: The Sri Mandir at Odisha’s Puri will remain closed for fours hours today due to ‘Banaka Lagi’ or Srimukha sringara ritual of Lord Jagannath and his siblings at the temple. The darshan of the deities will be restricted for the devotees for four hours from 5 PM to 9 PM.

Only a small group of ‘pujaris’ will be allowed inside the ‘garba gruha’ or sanctum sanctorum for the rituals.

The Holy Trinity (Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra) along with Lord Sudarshan of Puri Sri Mandir will adorn a new look after a special make-up ritual on the ratnabedi. The ritual is performed seven to eight times a year.

Banaka Lagi derives its name from ‘Bana’ meaning forest and ‘Lagi’ meaning apply. According to culture experts, certain 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. Banaka Lagi ritual of the deities is performed by a particular class of servitor known as Datta Mahapatra.

It is to be noted that the Puri Srimandir has reopened for the devotees from February 1 with certain Covid restrictions. The devotees are allowed to visit Srimandir from 6 am till 9 pm.

The temple will remain closed for darshan on all Sundays in order to sanitize the premises. All devotees will be required to bring their photo ID Card, namely, Aadhaar/Voter ID or any other photo ID card for identification, along with final certificate for Covid19 vaccination (of having taken two doses) or Covid-19 negative certificate (RTPCR) of testing done within 96 hours prior to their visit to the Temple.

Also read: Puri Srimandir reopens for devotees amid Covid restrictions