Kolkata: A team of archaeologists from Delhi will soon arrive in Odisha to help in restoration of the 12th century Shree Jagannath temple that suffered minor damages due to cyclone Fani that ripped apart the holy town of Puri.
"A team of archaeologists are coming from Delhi to assist us in its restoration. It is our priority to restore the statues at the earliest," Superintendent of Archeological Survey of India (Bhubaneswar circle) Arun Malik told News18.
As the cyclone struck Puri when the ASI was undertaking certain repair works of the main temple, it was fitted with about 5,000 iron poles. The scaffoldings standing tall close to the main structure, however, crumbled after being slammed by Fani with a wind speed of 200 to 240 kmph.
Most of the iron poles fell on the ground, while some of them were twisted, news agency PTI quoted a senior official as saying. He added that the labourers climbed the scaffoldings while undertaking repair work at height.
A huge lion statue close to the temple also received minor damage as the scaffoldings collapsed on it. The Lion's Gate, also locally called as 'Singhadwara', itself bears signs of the severity with which Fani hammered the landmass.
"After cyclone Fani wreaked havoc in Puri, we did an inspection of the Jagannath Temple on May 5. We found that the Lion statue and the 'dwarpal' at 'Singhadwara' was damaged," Malik said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has also requested Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma to depute a team of experts from the ASI to assess the damage caused to the temple. "It is reported that significant damage has been caused to the infrastructure of Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri. Even the Sun Temple is reportedly closed for tourists," Patnaik wrote to Sharma.
Malik, however, said that Konark Sun Temple bears no damage so far.
On May 3, around 8 AM, Cyclone Fani wreaked havoc in Puri and other coastal areas of Odisha. Heavy rains and windstorm left nearly 40 people dead and caused heavy damage to properties and wildlife.
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