Puri, Jan 30: The Banakalagi ritual of the Holy Trinity, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, will be conducted at Srimandir here on Wednesday for which the temple will remain closed for devotees for four hours tomorrow, informed the temple authorities on Tuesday.

According to the Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA), Puri, the Banakalagi ritual will be performed by Dutta Mohapatra servitors between 5 pm to 9 pm tomorrow, during which the public darshan at the 12th century shrine will remain be suspended for the said four hours.

Notably, the Banakalagi ritual happens to be a secret ritual of the deities also known as ‘Srimukha Sringara’. During this ritual, the servitors apply fresh colours on the idols of the deities with an objective of restoring their original look.

The ‘Banaka’ is prepared from different types of natural colours like Hingula, Haritala, Kasturi, Keshar and the glue of Kaintha to be later applied to the idols.

Puri district administration and the SJTA have made adequate security arrangements around the temple in view of the Banakalagi rituals.

Read: Odisha News 

Earlier in the day, Samarth Verma, a 2011-batch IAS Officer, took charge as the additional chief administrator of the SJTA.

The post of additional chief administrator, SJTA, is declared equivalent in status and responsibility to the post of additional secretary to government provided in the IAS cadre of the state, officials said.