PURI: A team of experts examined the Garbha gruha (sanctum sanctorum) of Jagannath temple in Puri on Tuesday and found oily layers on the walls. The team, comprising Director (Monuments) of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) AK Patel, Superintending Engineer of Bhubaneswar ASI circle HS Abhay Naik, Temple Engineer Bindheswar Patra and Temple Chief Administrator Pradip Jena examined the structure.
Every year during the Rath Yatra when the deities are away from the main temple, an expert team inspects the conservation work and if required, conducts repair works.
The team members said the oily layers on the walls were due to high humidity emanating from huge quantity of hot steaming cooked bhog offered to the deities a number of times in a day and from respiration of hundreds of devotees, who visit the sanctum sanctorum every day.
Before the festival concludes on Niladri Bije, the walls would be cleaned. Efforts are on to complete the repair and conservation of Jagamohan at the same time.Experts also inspected the functioning of exhaust fans and explored suitable places for installing cooling system inside the Garbha gruha to mitigate the humidity problem.