Know What NMA’s Draft Bylaws For Puri Jagannath Temple And Subsidiary Shrines Say

Bhubaneswar: The draft bylaws framed by the National Monument Authority (NMA) under the Union Ministry of Culture for the Jagannath temple in Puri and its subsidiary shrines have added new provisions for their conservation and periphery development.

As per the draft bylaws prepared by a heritage expert committee including the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act (AMASR), 2010, an area of 100 metre (buffer zone) around the Jagannath temple will be declared as a prohibited area where no new construction of any kind, either by government or private agencies, would be permitted.

Besides, the area of further 200-metre in all directions of the temple would be declared as a regulated area where any construction must be approved by the NMA. While the temple site of 9.7 acre is protected area, the prohibited area is 37.06 acre along the Meghanad Pacheri (temple boundary wall) and the regulated area is 138.38 acre. At present, all four sides of the temple are mainly used for commercial and residential purposes.

According to the proposed bylaws, the height of all buildings in the regulated area of the monument will be restricted to 9 metre while the façade designs should match the monument. However, modern materials such as aluminium cladding, glass bricks and any other synthetic tiles or materials will not be permitted for exterior finishes.

This apart, the placement of the signages should ensure that they do not block the view of any heritage structure or monument and are oriented towards pedestrians. Hawkers and vendors may not be allowed on the periphery of the monument.

Following are other restrictions in the proposed bylaws:

—The exterior colour of the structure in the regulated zone must be of a neutral tone in harmony with the monuments.
—French doors and large glass façades along the front street or along staircase shafts will not be permitted.
—LED or digital signs, plastic fibre glass or any other highly reflective synthetic material would not be used for signage in the heritage area.
—Banners will not be permitted except for special events/fair etc. It may not be put up for more than three days.
—No advertisements in the form of hoardings, bills within the heritage zone will be permitted.

Apart from the Jagannath temple, the NMA has identified eight other structures in Puri. They are Sankhachakra temple, Mahavira temple, Timei Matha, Trinath temple, Kapalamochana temple, Sweta Ganga Puskarini and Maa Chamunda temple.

The NMA has also prepared similar heritage bylaws for two temples in Bhubaneswar – the 13th century Vaishnava temple of Ananta Basudev and Shiva temple of Brahmeswar in the Ekamra Kshetra heritage site.