Lord Jagannath Temple’s Treasure Trove to be Opened After Four Decades
The ‘Ratna Bhandar’ (Treasure Trove) of the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha, is set to be opened at 1:28 pm on Sunday. This decision follows the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the Odisha government, according to Inspection Committee Chairman Justice Biswanath Rath.
The Odisha government approved the opening of the Ratna Bhandar after more than four decades to inventory the valuables, including pieces of jewelry stored there. Justice Rath stated, “As per the discussion in the meeting and the suggestions of the ‘Purohits’ and the ‘mukti mandap’, the right time for the opening of the Ratna Bhandar is 1:28 pm.”
He further explained that the SOPs will be carried out in three parts: opening the Ratna Bhandar, taking custody of ornaments and valuables section-wise, and moving them to pre-allocated rooms inside the Garbha Griha. The process will be challenging since the position of the Ratna Bhandar has been unknown since it was last opened in 1985.
Justice Rath mentioned, “Today we convened a meeting in which we decided to go ahead with the opening and taking care of the ornaments… The process will be carried out with two sets of video recordings and there will be two certifications… It will be a challenge since we do not know the position inside since it last opened in 1985… We’ll open the locks today, in any case.”
Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan added, “On July 14, the Ratna Bhandar of Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath is going to be opened. The final approval for this has been given by the Chief Minister… All standard operating procedures have been laid down and the government has given the Chief Administrator of the temple the full responsibility to ensure that the entire work is done smoothly under his supervision.”
He also stated that the inventory work will take place in the presence of a representative from the Reserve Bank of India, and a digital catalogue will be made after the counting is done. “We had requested the involvement of the Reserve Bank of India in this and a representative of the Reserve Bank of India will be included in it… After counting the ornaments, we will create a digital catalogue, which will include photographs, their weight and other things like their quality. A digital catalogue will be created with all the things; the digital catalogue will be a reference document,” he said.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) also looks after the maintenance of the 12th-century shrine. The Treasury was last opened in 1978.
