Stone Slab Falls Off Puri Jagannath Temple, Small Structure Damaged

Puri: A stone slab fell from a structure inside the Jagannath Temple complex in Odisha’s pilgrim town of Puri on Saturday, causing damage to another shrine.

As per preliminary information, the piece of stone fell from Baraha temple in the wee hours. The roof of Ekadashi temple inside the complex was damaged in the incident. No injury to anyone was reported in the incident.

Temple staff collected the stone slab and informed the authorities of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) about the incident. Baraha temple is located in front of the Bimala temple at the south of the main temple.

It may be noted here that, the ASI had just completed the repair works at the Dakhina Ghara in the 12th century shrine complex.

The exact reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained. It is suspected that the loose stone piece might have fallen during attempts by monkeys to jump from one side to the other.

While the ASI has reportedly taken the issue seriously, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) is yet to comment on the incident.

It may be recalled here that a stone slab weighing around one tonne had fallen from the dome of the western gate of the Jagannath Temple in 2011.