Puri Jagannath Temple Ratna Bhandar repair work to be halted again

Repair work of the Puri Jagannath Temple Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) has been halted from today until the 15th of January owing to the anticipated influx of a large number of devotees.

Pausha Purnima falls on January 13 and Makar Sankranti on January 14 because of which a large number of devotees are expected to throng Pui Srimandir for significant rituals. Keeping in view of the upcoming rush, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has notified of the temporary suspension of the Ratna Bhandar repair work from the 12th to the 15th of January.

“Every time there is an expected rush of devotees, we halt the temple repair work for safety concerns. Similar suspensions of the Ratna Bhandar repair were done on the English New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. However, starting from 16th January, the repair shall resume as usual,” stated Aravind Padhi, the Chief Administrator of Shri Mandir.

ALSO READ: Puri Jagannath Temple Mahaprasad to be available at Rs 100!

Incidentally, so far the repair work of the Ratna Bhandar involved lime plaster being stripped from both the inner and outer parts of the Deities’ treasury (namely Bhitara Ratna Bhandar and Bahara Ratna Bhandar), exposing cracks on the underlying stone surfaces.

An expansion of iron rods used to connect the stones has caused deterioration in several of them. As such, the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) is replacing those rods with steel beams.

ALSO READ: Puri Jagannath temple darshan: Trial run of separate queues for men, women devotees to begin on January 20

On December 17, the repair of the Jagannath Temple Ratna Bhandar had initially begun with a report of the GPR-GPS survey and plans designed for it. However, the repairs had to be suspended on December 25 owing to Christmas and had then again resumed on January 3.