PURI: The ground penetrating radar survey of Shree Jagannath Temple’s Ratna Bhandar, being conducted by CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (GPRI), Hyderabad concluded on Sunday.
GPR specialist Anand Pandey, who led the team of NGRI engineers and technocrats in conducting the survey said dimension wise (horizontal and vertical) pictures of the entire Ratna Bhandar including its floors and walls were taken using three GPR cameras of 200,400 and 900 MHz frequencies. The cameras penetrated 10 metre down the floor to take the photos which will be processed in a laboratory and synchronised into full images. The data will be analysed in seven phases and the report presented to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) which will then submit it to Shree Jagannath Temple Administration for further action, Pandey said.
On September 18, laser scanning of both the Ratna Bhandars (Bhitara and Bahar) was conducted by CSIR-NGRI in the presence of the Ratna Bhandar committee. However, as the work remained inconclusive, the team decided to conduct a detailed GPRS survey of the entire structure. After getting the state government’s nod, the temple administration approached ASI to conduct the survey and complete the work before September 24 in view of Dussehra Sholapuja, scheduled to begin on September 26.
In response to the request of the temple administration, ASI agreed and informed that the GPRS survey will be conducted from September 21 to 23. The administration obtained the standard operation procedure (SOP) from the state government and the work began on Saturday. Daily rituals of the deities were rescheduled and darshan of the deities remained closed for devotees from 1 pm to 6 pm even as priests performed the rituals as usual.
Chief administrator of the temple Arabinda Padhee said devotees will be able to visit the shrine as usual from Monday.