Puri: Silver cladding work on the newly rebuilt wooden doors for the Kalahata Dwar of the Garbha Gruha (sanctum sanctorum) of the Shree Jagannath temple will start tonight or latest by tomorrow morning at the Niladri Bhakta Nivas.
For this purpose, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) today shifted the nearly 500 kg of silver kept in the safe vault of the district treasury to the strong room of the Niladri Bhakta Nivas amid tight security.
“Silver cladding of seven doors of the Srimandir (Shree Jagannath temple) was completed during Rath Yatra last year barring the Kalahata Dwar. It was targeted for completion during Rath Yatra in the current year i.e. 2022,” informed Ajay Kumar Jena, Administrator (Development), SJTA talking to reporters here today.
The silversmiths and other artisans engaged by the donor started arriving yesterday and all will arrive by tonight, Jena said.
“So accordingly, we have transferred the near about 500 kilograms of silver kept in 11 boxes at the district treasury to the strong room at Niladri Bhakta Nivas. Tight security 24×7 will be provided both at the strong room and the workplace in Niladri Bhakta Nivas,” the SJTA Administrator said.
He said the ancillary work is targeted to be completed by June 30.
Mahaprabhu’s Gundicha Yatra is on July 1 so from July 2 fixing of the Kalahata Dwar will begin inside the Srimandir, he added.
Jena informed that the wooden doors of the Kalahata Dwar made of Burma teak have been completed.
Silver cladding of Beheran Dwar, Jay Vijay Dwar, Satapahacha Dwar, Bhoga Mandap Dwar, doors of Vimala and Mahalaxmi temples have been completed.
It is pertinent to mention here that 1,345 kg of silver was donated by a Mumbai-based devotee of Lord Jagannath to SJTA for cladding the temple doors.
