Bhubaneswar, June 5: The making the new idols of Lord Jagannath and His siblings began in Puri today.

The process began after Puri king Dibya Singh Deb, considered to be the first servitor of Lord Jagannath, ceremonially handed over a betel nut to the rajguru (royal counsellor) at the Sri Nahar, the royal palace in the pilgrim town.

The ritual symbolised the authorisation to go ahead with the process of carving out new idols of the deities. On May 22, the timber for making of the idols reached Puri.

The idols would be carved at Koieli Baikuntha inside the temple.

After the ceremony, the king said: "Nabakalebar is an auspicious occasion for us. The biswakaramas (carpenters) will do their job honestly."

A temple official said the entire process of making the idols would be carried out in complete secrecy. Biswananth Das, a senior servitor, said: "Even the sound of the tools used for carving the idols will not be heard from outside. Drums and gongs will be played to drown the sounds of idol-making to the outsiders."

Temporary barricades have been erected using palm leaves in the Koieli Baikuntha area, so that no one can see what is going inside.

"The rituals will be carried out with all sanctity," said an official of the temple administration.

Following tradition, no one except those connected with the rituals will be allowed to go inside the Koilibaikuntha during this period.

"The Biswakarma servitors, under the guidance of the daitapatis, will carve out the new idols," said servitors' association president Ramakrushna Das Mohapatra.

The brahma paribartan ritual transformation of soul from the present deities to the new ones) will take place in the midnight of June 15. The new idols would be put up for public viewing only on July 18 during rath yatra.

The state government today suspended Saroj Das, who was in charge of infrastructure development ahead of Nabakalebar, because the work was not going on at the desired pace.