Cuttack, Nov 16: The Orissa High Court directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to start the repair of the Nata Mandap (dancing hall) and Jagamohana (the hall facing the sanctum sanctorum) of the Shree Jagannath Temple complex from today.
A bench of the OHC comprising of Acting Chief Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi and Justice MS Raman issued the directive while conducting a hearing on a petition filed by Abhisek Das.
The bench directed the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) to extend all cooperation to the ASI for conducting the repair work in the 12th century shrine. The bench further directed the amicus curiae to visit the temple site every 15 days and submit a status report on the progress of work to the court.
The court fixed December 4 as the next date for hearing on the matter.
Earlier, the ASI in its affidavit had submitted that it will begin repair from 24 January 2024 since this being the holy month of Kartik and there is a huge rush of devotees and work for the inauguration of the Srimandir Parikrama project is underway it planned to start the repair work on January 24, 2024and would take 120 days to complete the work by working for six hours a day.