ASI begins repair work of Puri Jagannath temple’s ‘Ratna Bhandar’

Puri, Dec 17 (PTI) The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Tuesday commenced repair work of ‘Ratna Bhandar’ of the Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri, a state minister said.
    The work started around 1 pm and will continue till 6 pm, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said.
    “The ASI has assured us a three-month timeline, but we have requested them to expedite the process,” he told reporters in Bhubaneswar.
    Harichandan said the repair work will be carried out without affecting the daily rituals of deities inside the 12th century shrine, and the timings for devotees.
    ASI Superintending Archaeologist D B Garnayak said: “We will set up scaffolding first before removing plasters from the walls of the Ratna Bhandar (temple treasury). The entire structure will then be cleaned, and the repair of old iron beams and cracked stones will be undertaken.”
    Both the inner and outer chambers will undergo repair.
    The renovation of the Ratna Bhandar will not be carried out on Saturdays and Sundays, and other holidays, keeping in view the crowd of devotees, the ASI official said.
    The Ratna Bhandar was reopened in July after 46 years for documenting inventory of valuables and repair of the structure.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)