Minor damage to outer wall of Kedarnath sanctum sanctorum: ASI

A team of experts of Archaeological Survey of India has found that the north eastern outer wall of the sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath temple was slightly damaged at some places.
"The northeastern outer wall of the sanctum sanctorum has some damage," Additional Director General of ASI, B R Mani told PTI.
"Also, there is minor damage at places where stones struck the temple structure. It is more visible at either side of the eastern, western and southern entrances of the mandap (a structure inside temple)," he said.
The five-member team headed by Janhwij Sharma, Director (Conservation) of ASI, studied the structure on August 2 and 3 along with representatives of Geological Survey of India (GSI) to assess the damage to the structure after the June calamity in Uttarakhand.

"Now, that the spot assessment is done, restoration work is all set to begin soon," Mani said.
"There are challenges like weather. However, the work will start soon. The government of Uttarakhand has to facilitate logistics. Men and material have to be moved," Mani said.

On allocation of funds, he said the Union Ministry of Culture has to allocate it. "We are preparing the estimate," he said.
Mani said a few sculptures were found during inspection after debris and silt were removed from the temple premises.
"Since this temple is not a protected monument, we will not be in a position to say if any sculptures are missing. We need to cross-check if they were previously documented. If yes, we can verify and come to a conclusion."

On the role of GSI, he said the geology experts studied the foundation, the type of soil and construction, and if the moraine and stone deposits had to be removed. "They will give opinion on these factors.