Ratna Bhandar of Shri Jagannath Temple to open following SOPs issued by Odisha govt: Inspection Committee Chairman Justice Rath

Puri (Odisha) [India], July 14 (ANI): The ‘Ratna Bhandar’ (Treasure Trobe) of the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri is set to be opened at 1:28 pm on Sunday, following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the Odisha government, said Inspection Committee Chairman Justice Biswanath Rath.

The Odisha government on Saturday had already given approval for the opening of the Ratna Bhandar after more than four decades to carry out the inventorization of valuables, including pieces of jewellery stored there.

Speaking on this, Justice Rath says, “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 said that the SOPs will be carried out in three parts, as issued by the government.

“As scheduled and as known to everybody, the government has already come out with the required SOPs in three parts: one is for the opening of the Ratna Bhandar, then taking custody of ornaments and valuables stacked in both the ‘bhandars’ section-wise to pre-allocated rooms inside the Garbha Griha,” he said.

He further mentioned that the process will be quite challenging since it is still unknown to them about the position of the Ratna Bhandar since it was last opened in 1985.

“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,” Justice Rath said.

Speaking on the re-opening of the Ratna Bhandar, Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said, “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 further 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 ASI also looks after the maintenance of the 12th century shrine. The Treasury was last opened in 1978.