Special boxes brought to Shri Jagannath Temple ahead of re-opening of ‘Ratna Bhandar’ today

Puri (Odisha) [India], July 14 (ANI): Special boxes were brought to Shri Jagannath Temple ahead of the re-opening of ‘Ratna Bhandar’ (Treasure Trove) on Sunday at 1:28 pm to carry out the inventorization of valuables, including pieces of jewellery stored there.

The Ratna Bhandar of the Shri Jagannath Temple is to be opened today following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the state government. On Saturday, the Odisha government gave approval for the opening of the Ratna Bhandar after more than four decades of carrying out the inventorization.

Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Arabinda Padhee says, “Odisha government has approved the SOP for opening the Ratna Bhandar. As per the decision, today the Ratna Bhandar is being opened as per set guidelines. Authorised representatives from the various ‘sewa’ groups, officials from the ASI, representatives of Shri Gajapati Maharaj and others would be there. The entire proceedings will be video recorded for our records, not for publicity and will be strictly confidential.”

He further stated that there will be three steps in SOPs to be followed for the opening and inventorization of the valuables in the Ratna Bhandar.

“There are three steps to the SOP: The first is the opening of the outer ratna bhandar. For the inner Ratna Bhandar, there is another set of guidelines. There is also a temporary, strong room… Once the shift from Ratna Bhandar to the strong room has been made, we will inventory the valuables. We seek the blessings of Mahaprabhu that the Ratna Bhandar gets opened easily, and the subsequent steps will follow,” Padhee said.

Puri SP Pinak Mishra says, “We have made relevant security arrangements keeping all aspects in mind… QRT has been deployed in all important places. In addition, we have placed a contingency arrangement and all plans are in place… The daily rituals being held in the temple will be held as usual… Only identified servitors who have their duty today will be allowed inside the temple.”

Speaking on the re-opening of the Ratna Bhandar, sand artist and member of the inspection committee, Sudarshan Patnaik, says, “After the High Court order, ASI wrote a letter to the temple management committee to hand it over as soon as possible because it is very important to repair it, so I wrote a letter to our chairman of the Jagannath Temple Committee in this regard… The government has given importance to the repair part and the government has prepared the entire SOP and today the Ratna Bhandar will open.”

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will be doing repair works in the Ratna Bhandar, which also looks after the maintenance of the 12th century shrine. The Treasury was last opened in 1978.