Darshan of Lord Jagannath to remain suspended for 4 hours due to Banakalagi niti

Public darshan of Lord Jagannath will remain temporarily suspended for four hours at the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri on Thursday as a special ritual, known as Banakalagi Niti, is scheduled to be performed. The restriction has been imposed to facilitate the sacred ritual of the deities.

According to temple sources, the Banakalagi Niti will be conducted on the occasion of Krishna Dwitiya Tithi. As part of the ritual schedule, general darshan for devotees will remain closed from 6 pm to 10 pm.

Banakalagi Ritual on Krishna Dwitiya

Temple authorities have advised devotees to plan their visits accordingly during this period. Once the ritual is completed, regular darshan for devotees will resume as usual.

Also Read: Banakalagi Niti at Puri Srimandir today; public darshan to remain suspended for 5 hours

Earlier Darshan Suspension for Ritual

This is not the first time that public darshan has been temporarily suspended for the Banakalagi ritual. On January 7, 2026, darshan of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra was halted for five hours at the temple.

On that occasion, the Banakalagi Niti was performed on Magha Krishna Chaturthi. As per the ritual schedule, darshan was closed from 5 pm to 10 pm to allow the ceremony to be conducted.

Sacred Ritual with Natural Colours

During Banakalagi, the Dutta Mohapatra servitors carry out the ritual using natural colours and traditional materials. Conch shell powder is used to prepare white colour, black is derived from diya soot, Haritala is used for red and Hingula for yellow.

Kasturi is also applied to protect the bodies of the sibling deities during the process. The sacred ritual is detailed and time-consuming, usually taking nearly five hours to complete.