BHUBANESWAR: The famous Jagannath temple in Puri has been attacked by hordes of rodents - nibbling away at the clothing of sibling gods Jagannath, Balabhadra and goddess Subhadra - fretting shrine officials, who have raised an alarm.Servitors said the imminent hazard to the sanctum sanctorum and the wood idols of the divine beings from rodents is a cause of terrific concern.

We discover it challenging to perform routines amid the rodents and their wastes.

Every day, they are damaging the clothes and garlands of the deities.

Besides, the rats have been ruining the faces of the divine beings, said Satyanarayan Puspalak, a servitor.Bhagaban Panda, another servitor, stated small burrows were identified in between the spaces of stones on the floor which might pose a hazard to the sanctum sanctorums structure.

The population of rats and cockroaches took off in the temple during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021 throughout which the shrine was closed for fans for several months.

The temple administration stated it knew the problem.

We look out to the issue and taking preventive procedures to eliminate the rats.

As a momentary procedure, we are laying traps.

The trapped ones are being released far from the shrine outside.

We are not using rat poison at all, said Jitendra Sahoo, temple administrator.