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After years of legal battles, controversies and debates, the Ratna Bhandar, the sacred treasury of Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri was opened after 46 years on July 14.
Today’s News :
“In accordance with the divine will of Lord Shree Jagannath, the Ratna Bhandar was opened today after 46 long years. I sincerely hope for the success of this monumental endeavour,” informed Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on X.
The process took over four hours. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Chief Administrator of the temple, stated, “We have opened both chambers. Since the locks of the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar could not be opened, they had to be broken. We followed all the Standard Operating Procedures given to us.”
“We have shifted ornaments of the outer chamber to a temporary strong room inside the temple complex. Subsequently, we have sealed the strong room. Though we saw almirahs and trunks containing jewellery in the inner chamber, the ornaments could not be shifted to another temporary strong room due to paucity of time,” said Mr. Padhee.
“On another designated day, the remaining work will be completed. Inventory of inner chamber’s jewellery will be compiled at the same place following its renovation,” he informed.
The work began at 1:28 p.m. on July 14, an auspicious moment that was chosen to open the Ratna Bhandar. After a series of rituals, two different teams entered the temple to oversee the opening of the sacred chambers. They were clad only in loincloth on occasion of historic moment.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had made the opening of Ratna Bhandar a major poll plank in the 2024 elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also made promises about opening of Ratna Bhandar during election campaigning.
On July 4, a month after declaration of election results, the Majhi Government constituted a high-level committee under chairmanship of former Orissa High Court judge Justice Biswanath Rath to supervise the process of cataloguing the valuables. The BJP Government had dissolved a similar committee constituted under chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge Justice Arijit Pasayat.
In the second meeting, Justice Rath-led committee decided to open Ratna Bhandar on July 14. The committee also suggested different standard operating procedures for opening of Ratna Bhandar, and cataloguing of ornaments and safety of valuables.