Puri: The Jagannath Temple here will remain closed for devotees for four hours from Wednesday evening for a special ritual of the shrine’s sibling deities, its administration said.
In a public notice, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) said darshan will be suspended from 6 pm to 10 pm Wednesday for the ‘Banakalagi’ ritual.
According to the temple office, Banaklagi, also called “Srimukha Sringara”, is a special ritual where the faces of the trinity – Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath – are coloured afresh.
The ritual is traditionally performed by a category of servitors called the Dutta Mohapatra.
Natural colours prepared from herbs and certain materials, including ‘kasturi’ (musk) and ‘karpura’ (camphor), are used for colouring the faces of idols, a servitor said.
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