The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has completed the work of repairing the gemstone or treasury of the Puri Jagannath Temple and the list of list will start after the approval of the state government.
The announcement was made at a press conference on Monday by Aurobind Padhi, Chief Administrator of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration and Superintendent Archaeologist of ASI. ASI is the patron of the 12th century temple in the seaside city.
Padhi said, “By the immense grace of God, the work of both external and internal conservation and renewal of gemstone is completed today.”
The outer chamber is used regularly to store and remove jewelery for rituals and festivals. The most valuable jewelery made of gold and diamonds is placed in the internal chamber, which has not been opened for 46 years due to concerns about its structural integrity.
Last year, the internal chamber was reopened to repair the structure and make a list of valuables present in it. IAS officer Padhi said, “ASI performed protection work for about 333 hours in a period of 95 days. 80 people worked to preserve the treasure of God.”
He said that the work related to inventory will start only after getting the permission of the state government. Significantly, the Jagannath temple at Puri works under the Law Department of the State Government.
In July last year, when the gemstone store was reopened after four decades, the jewelery and other valuables kept in iron containers and shelves were transferred to temporary safe rooms inside the temple in two stages.
Padhi said that since the repair work has been completed now, the valuable items will soon be taken inside the gemstone store.
Temple sources said that the final list was prepared in 1978. According to that list, the temple has 128 kg of gold and more than 200 kg of silver. He said that some jewelery has a layer of gold and could not be weighed at that time.
Padhi said that the repair and protection works were done as per the prescribed guidelines of the state government. He said, “By the grace of God, the repair work was completed on 8 July before the Neeladri bus.”
‘Neeladri Bije’ refers to returning to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple of brothers – gods – Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath, which symbolizes the conclusion of the Rath Yatra festival.
Although Ratna Bhandar was reopened in July last year, repair and protection started in December after a thorough survey. ASI’s Garnayak reported that a total of 520 damaged stone blocks and a Korbel arch were replaced in the internal and external chambers of the gemstone store.
He said, “These are the major stone segments of the exterior and internal walls of both the chambers of the gemstone reserves, which have deteriorated in the last few years. Granite stones have now been placed on the floor.”
“In addition, 15 damaged beams in the structure have been replaced by stainless steel beams, including both large and small beams. The renovation work is done completely with traditional dry masonry method,” he said.