Repair work for Puri Jagannath temple's Ratna Bhandar to start from Dec 16

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is likely to start repair work for the 'Ratna Bhandar' of the Jagannath temple in Odisha's Puri from December 16, an official said.

The ASI has sought approval from the Niti sub-committee of the temple for the proposed repair work, ASI superintendent D B Garnaik said on Sunday.

"After getting the time slot, we will start the work, most probably from December 16," he said.

Earlier, the ASI had conducted the GPR-GPS survey of the 12th-century shrine's 'Ratna Bhandar' (treasury) with the assistance of the Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute.

The institute submitted its survey findings to ASI last month, the official said.

The repair work will be conducted as per the survey report and with the approval of the temple management, he said.

The 'Ratna Bhandar' repair issue will be discussed during the Chhatisa Nijoga', the confederation of servitors of the Jagannath temple in Puri, scheduled for December 10, Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said.

Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said the state government has targeted to complete the inventory of the jewellery and ornaments, which were stored in two temporary treasuries inside the shrine, by next January end.

"We have asked the ASI to complete the repair work soon. After that, we will again restore the ornaments in the 'Ratna Bhandar' from temporary treasuries and then the inventory work will be carried out," he told media persons.

Notably, the 'Ratna Bhandar' was reopened in July this year after 46 years for an inventory of valuables and the repair of its structure, the official added.