Banakalagi Ritual of Living Trinity Today

Puri: Lord Jagannath and his siblings will be treated with a special ritual Banakalagi Niti will be held today. Banakalagi or facial ritual is a secret and special ritual which holds special significance of Srimandir ritual.

Literally ‘Banaka’ means colours and this ritual means decoration of the face of the Lord. In simple words, it can be described as repainting of the deities. During the secret ritual, the deities would be re-painted with various traditional organic colours by the Datta Mahapatra servitors.

Different types of natural colours like- Hingula, Harital, Kasturi, Keshar, glue of kaintha are used to prepare the Banaka. This ritual is performed several times a year. Through this ritual, the Trinity always remains fresh and attractive for the devotees.