Puri: The Sri Mandir at Odisha’s Puri will remain closed for three 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 8 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 ritual of the deities is performed by a particular class of servitor known as Datta Mahapatra.
Notably, for the last two days, the Maha Snana ritual has been getting delayed. Earlier on March 7, the rituals were delayed for around one-and-half hour after blood spill was reported near ‘Bhitara Katha’ of the Srimandir while on March 8, it was delayed as a devotee reportedly vomited near the ‘Bhitara Katha’ of the shrine.
Ms Kalinga