Boulder falls off Puri Srimandir, damages roof of a temple

A boulder fell from the Baraha temple inside the Srimandir premises in Puri on Saturday damaging another temple beside it.

As per reports, the boulder fell in the wee hours of Saturday which damaged the roof of Ekadashi temple.

After the incident, the Srimandir Commander collected the boulder and informed the ASI authorities. Baraha temple is situated in front of the Bimala temple at the south of the main temple.

Notably, the ASI had just finished repair works at the Dakhina Ghara in Srimandir.

While the exact reason behind the incident has not been ascertained yet, it is suspected that the loose boulder might have fallen during attempts by monkeys to jump from one side to the other.

The ASI admitted the incident and has reportedly taken the issue seriously.

However, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) is still mum on the incident and denied commenting anything on it.

It is pertinent to mention here that a one-tonne stone had fallen from the dome of the western gate of the 12th-century Jagannath Temple in Puri in 2011.

Nearly 2,000 devotees were in the temple when the stone fell. However, they managed to escape the boulder narrowly.

Similarly, a stone slab weighing about 40 kg fell off the ‘Jalakrida Mandap’ (water recreation hall) of the Jagannath Temple in Puri in 2015.