ASI To Start Repair Of Ratna Bhandar In Puri Jagannath Temple From Inner Chamber

Puri: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which has been tasked to take up repair of Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of Jagannath temple in Puri, will start the work from its inner chamber.

Revealing this to media persons on Friday, Chittaranjan Das, Deputy Superintendent of ASI, said the repair work of the Ratna Bhandar would start from December 17 as per schedule.

The workers and technical persons would first repair the damaged parts of inner Ratna Bhandar in presence of ASI experts and then move on to the outer chamber of the treasury, he added.

Stating that the work would be executed as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the state government, he assured that it would pose no hindrance to devotees coming for darshan in the temple.

“The technical personnel of ASI will be engaged in the repair work which will be conducted under direct supervision of senior officials. Our technical core committee will also monitor the work from time to time,” he added.

On Tuesday, Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Arabinda Padhee had informed that the repair work would start at 1 pm after the ritual of Bhoga Mandap and would continue till 5-6 pm.

“The repair work of the Lords’ treasury will not be carried out on Saturdays and Sundays and other special days. During the repair, the devotees will be allowed to have darshan of sibling deities inside the main temple from Bahar Katha (outer wooden gate),” Padhee said after a meeting of Chhatish Nijog in Puri.