The silver cladding work of the Singhadwar (Lions Gate) of the Jagannath Temple in Puri has been completed before the Niladri Bije rituals of deities.
After the brass-clad door of Singhadwar had been replaced with the door made of Burma teak wood, the new door has been plated with silver metal by 13 artisans from Mumbai. All the work was completed before the deadline Bahuda Yatra of the deities.
The silver coating work of the Singhadwar had begun on June 21, a day after the deities commenced their nine-day sojourn to the Gundicha Temple. The work was executed by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) under supervision of the ASI during the Rath Yatra.
The 15-feet-high Singhadwar has been clad with 525-kg silver donated by a devotee. Efforts have been made to retain the original design of the door.
The Singhadwar is the first gate of the 12th-century Jagannath Temple to be silver-clad. A proposal for coating the three other gates with silver is under consideration.
So far, eight of the wooden doors at Bhitara Bedha (inner compound) are silver-clad including Jay Vijay, Beherana Dwar, Sata Pahacha Dwar and Kalahata Dwar inside the temple.
