19 days and counting! Disruption in Lord Jagannath’s Banakalagi ritual continues

It has been 19 days since Lord Jagannath and his siblings returned to their holy abode in Srimandir on Niladri Bije, but they are devoid of their holy ‘Sringar’, otherwise known as the Banakalagi ritual.

As per the Srimandir Record of Rights, the ritual should be held at least four times a month, but a reported dispute between the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and the Dattamohapatra servitors has resulted in the disruption of the ritual.

Sources said, while the Dattamohapatra servitors keep insisting on conducting the ritual every Thursday, the SJTA has been keen on doing it on Wednesdays, hence the dispute.

Meanwhile, the devotees have expressed their anguish over the dispute and resultant delay in the ritual.

“Banakalagi ritual is held to make Lord Jagannath look beautiful for the devotees. But due to the ego of the servitors, the ritual has been delayed. Servitors should serve Lord Jagannath in the true spirit,” said a devotee.

As per reports, amidst the controversy and after a lot of deliberations, Thursday was picked to conduct the Banakalagi ritual. However, the Marjana ritual of Maa Laxmi, Maa Saraswati, and Lord Madanamohana is conducted on Thursday. So to avoid delay of Mahaprabhu’s ritual it was later decided that the Banakalagi will be conducted on Wednesdays. But the protest by the servitors has put a big question mark on the ritual.

“The administration is adamant about conducting the ritual on Wednesdays. But as per the rules it should be conducted on Thursdays. There is a religious significance that is why it is written in the record of rights to conduct the same on Thursdays. But the SJTA does not understand it. I request the administration to at least conduct some of the Banakalagi rituals on Thursdays. It is not right to completely strike out Thursdays for Banakalagi ritual,” said Dattamohapatra servitor, Madanamohana Dattamohapatra.

Senior servitor Binayak Dasmohapatra said, “There is a dispute over Banakalagi ritual. And I hope this will be resolved in the next Managing Committee meeting on July 27. I request the Chief Administrator of the SJTA to resolve the dispute and grant permission to the servitors to conduct Banakalagi ritual soon.”