Bhubaneswar: The inspection, necessary repair and restoration work of Puri Srimandir will be carried out during the Rath Yatra, when the three deities will be away at the Mausi Maa temple from the period between Gundicha Yatra and Niladri Bije.
Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Pradipta Mohapatra today informed that a team of ASI will carry out the necessary repair works in and outside the temple between July 4 and July 14.
According to sources, a team of ASI Core Committee including officials from the State, Professors of IIT, ASI Headquarters Joint DG (Conservation), PWD engineers and other officials will conduct the inspection of the 12th century shrine and take up required repair works.
The ASI team will conduct a complete inspection of the Garbha Gruha on July 5 and 6 and thereafter if all the materials needed for repair works are ready, the renovation work will begin.
The team will be asked to complete all the repair works by July 14 so that by Niladri Bije, which is scheduled to be held a day later, the temple would be ready to welcome the deities, said Mohapatra.
The temple chief administrator further informed that even though there is no crack on the Garbha Gruha, the inspection of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple will be carried out because some servitors had alleged seepage of water into the innermost chamber during cyclone Fani.
“The annual inspection of temple Nilachakra will also be conducted, but this time around, steps will be taken for strengthening it by conducting its chemical analysis. It would help us find out exactly what kind of material the Nilachakra is made up of, so that we can make it stronger with better anchorage,” said Mohapatra.
This apart, the Jaya-Bijaya idols which suffered extensive damage during the recent cyclone will also be reinstated on the temple on July 16.
It may be noted that every year, Rath Yatra is the only time when repair works are undertaken inside the temple as due to the absence of the deities, entry of officials is allowed into restricted areas and inner precincts of the temple.