Puri Jagannath Temple's treasury 'Ratna Bhandar' likely to open on July 14

BHUBANESWAR: The high-level committee, set up to supervise the opening of Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath temple in Puri, on Tuesday decided to request the state government to reopen the inner chamber of the treasury on July 14.

Speaking to media persons, Justice Biswanath Rath, chairman of the high-level community, said, "We (panel members) have unanimously decided that the state government will be requested for the reopening of the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar on the 14th of this month. Decisions have also been made regarding the opening of the treasure trove at any cost."

Mr Rath also said that a detailed discussion was held on the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) needed for making an inventory of the ornaments stored there and repairing the Ratna Bhandar.

"The Odisha government and the Managing Committee will now have some time to decide. We hope that the government will provide the necessary permission to us," said Justice Rath.

He said that making the inventory of ornaments in Ratna Bhandar will be a long process.

Mr Rath noted that the temple management has informed the committee that a designated place (room) inside the temple premises has been finalised where the ornaments will be shifted.

"We will look into the nature of the ornaments, the character of the ornaments (whether 22 or 24 carat), nature of the gems, most of them are hundreds of years old too. The government must select a team of competent and experienced groups of jewellers and metrologists. As there are several aspects, the state government needs to make necessary provisions so that we can make the inventory. Several teams need to be formed and confidential and experienced people need to be selected," said Rath.

He assured that the committee has sent some proposals to the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee so that devotees do not face inconvenience in the darshan of the triad during the making of the inventory.

The temple's managing committee has also been instructed to provide the keys of Ratan Bhandar to the high-level panel on July 14.

The temple management was earlier asked to submit the keys on Tuesday but it failed owing to the Rath Yatra preparations.