Ranchi: 330-year-old Jagannath temple floor heats up, trust calls meet

RANCHI: One of the oldest buildings in the skyline of Ranchi, the 330-year-old Jagannath temple is attracting attention of devotees and researchers after the priests reported unusual heating up of a part of the floor inside the sanctum sanctorum on Wednesday.
An urgent meeting of the members of temple trust committee has been convened on Saturday in which a decision would be taken to engage subject experts to find the real cause of the unusual warming up.
Secretary of the temple trust committee, Ranendra Kumar, who is also the director of Ramdayal Munda Tribal Welfare and Research Institute, told TOI that they had sent a few representatives to assess the situation.
“One corner of the main temple building is warmer by a few degrees and the underlying reason can be found only through scientific study,” he said. The committee is yet to decide on the expert team that would be entrusted with the task of carrying out the study.
The temple’s chief priest, Rameshwar Padhi, said in the process of worshipping and entering the sanctum sanctorum they felt that the floor was getting warm in one corner.
“We observed it for a couple of days and even placed a pot of ghee which melted to prove that a particular stone slab was actually warmer than the rest,” he said. The matter was then reported to the temple trust committee.
Assistant professor of geology at Ranchi University, Nitish Priyadarshi, said the hillock on which the temple was constructed is among the oldest formations of the earth which is hard rock.
“There is hardly any chance of limestone being present there, which is known to heat up if water enters but radiation from the minerals contained in rocks is not unusual,” he said. Priyadarshi, however, said the havan kund, adjacent to the main temple, bears fire and amber almost through out the year and can heat up the stones underneath.
“In case water seepage occurred and it touched the heated stones, it may get trapped in the fissures resulting in heating of the floor. After reconstruction, almost the entire floor is covered with granite which restricts heat escape,” he said.
Former trustee of the temple committee, Lal Praveer Nath Shahdeo, 10th generation descendant of the founder of the temple, Anie Nath Shahdeo, also visited the temple on Wednesday and said something should be done to avoid a possible mishap.
“The reason has to be found out soon as hundreds of people visit the temple everyday. In case there is some volcanic activity happening underneath, it can put many lives at risk,” he said.