A sculpture resembling a crocodile (Mugger) head which is historically significant and located at Meghanada Pacheri (grand wall) near the Dakshina Dwar (southern gate) of Srimandir (Jagannath Temple) in Puri has been removed, sources said on Thursday.
This has caused concern among the temple’s Sevayats (servitors) about its conservation.
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) allegedly removed the sculpture without informing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Significance of the sculpture
The site is used as a temporary office by the Archaeology Department and accommodates a water tank including Nirmalya Khala, which has led to increased water outflow, some servitors alleged.
Traditionally, water drainage passed through the crocodile sculpture’s mouth, which had stopped functioning effectively. To address this, the temple management installed pipes beneath the structure to improve water discharge.
The sculpture was not carefully extracted and relocated. Even to the extent, the decision was allegedly not communicated to the ASI. It has been known that the ASI is to seek an answer from the temple authorities.
“Unless it is properly preserved for reinstallation in the future, the sculpture might gradually wither away,” the Jagannath temple servitors alleged.
SJTA is yet to release an official statement regarding the matter.
Worth mentioning, a lion sculpture made of stone was earlier unearthed during an excavation at Emar Mutt under the Srimandir Parikrama project in Puri. The artifact may date back to Ganga Dynasty, ASI superintendent Arun Mallick informed on May 17, 2022.
Following an outcry by several intellectuals and Puri residents, after the lion sculpture was left unattended in the debris near the project site, the ASI superintendent had visited the site and inspected the sculpture.
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