SJTA holds talk to relocate Lords in Odisha’s Puri temple

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Puri, Aug 14:

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and servitors of the temple today held preliminary discussions over the relocation of the idols of the presiding deities to facilitate repair of the Jagamohana (audience hall) of the temple and smooth conduct of rituals of the Lords during the same period.

SJTA chief administrator Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said a detailed discussion on the matter will be held at the Chhattisa Nijog (apex body of temple servitor bodies) on August 19 and the final discussion over the matter will done at a meeting to be held at Bhubaneswar on August 21.

“We held discussions over the repair of Jagamohana. Preliminary discussions were held on how rituals of the Lords will be conducted during the period when repairs will be undertaken,” said Mohapatra to reporters today.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has written a letter to the SJTA recently asking for relocation of the presiding deities as soon as possible as repair works were urgently needed. The ASI director general has asked the SJTA for evacuating the Jagamohana area of the temple, which is in need of immediate repair.

The ASI had undertaken temporary repairs of the Jagamohana during the Rath yatra of the Lords. Two stone blocks which have got dislodged from their position in the ceiling of the Jagamohana have been reinforced using steel brackets as a temporary measure.

The repairs would take around six to eight months to complete. Most likely the deities will have to relocated beyond the bahara katha limits to the Nata Mandir (dancing hall), according to temple sources.