A large chunk of plaster fell off the roof of the sanctum sanctorum of the 12th century Puri Shree Jagannath Temple on Tuesday. No one, however, was injured in the incident.

The chunk of plaster weighing around 1.5kg has been kept in the temple’s warehouse. Though the incident took place on Tuesday between 11.30am and 11.45am, the temple officials disclosed it 24 hours later on Wednesday. The servitors, who found the lump of plaster inside the sanctum sanctorum, handed it over to the temple officials.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) officer (development) Ajay Kumar Jena told The Telegraph: “The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) looks after the conservation, preservation, and maintenance of the shrine. We are in touch with the ASI officials. No damage has been reported.”

The ASI allayed apprehensions of any immediate threat to the temple. “We have repaired some portions of the inner chamber of the sanctum sanctorum during the Rath Yatra, the festival during which the Lord steps out of the temple on a nine-day sojourn. Perhaps a part of the plaster fell off,” said a senior official of the ASI. The temple has been maintained by the ASI since 1975.

ASI’s superintendent (Odisha Circle) Arun Kumar Mallik told The Telegraph: “We are yet to enter the sanctum sanctorum. We have seen the photographs and we are analysing them. Once we get the required permission, our engineers will inspect and try to ascertain from where the chunk of plaster fell down.”

The ASI officials are generally allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum during the Rath Yatra when Lord Jagannath and his siblings step out of the temple and go out on a nine-day vacation to their aunt’s house at Shree Gundicha Temple. According to officials, the lime plaster of the sanctum sanctorum wall which is nearly eight inches thick soaks up moisture during the monsoon and gets three times heavier than its original weight. It begins to exert pressure on the surface and peels off.

However, the incident has raised eyebrows with questions being raised about the safety of the structure of the 1,000-year-old temple. Servitors, as well as local people, have demanded a thorough inspection of the structure.

“The incident reminds us of the fall of stones from different parts of the temple over the years. According to records, it was on July 9, 1875, that a large stone fell for the first time in the sanctum sanctorum. In the more recent past, a five-tonne stone slab fell down in 1990. Another two heavy slabs, one weighing one tonne and another of two tonnes, fell right inside the structure in 1992. So far nearly 20 incidents of stone falling have been reported. But there were no casualties,” said a senior member of the temple management committee.