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Ratna bhandar inner chamber to be reopened on July 18 for inventorisation, audit

ByDebabrata Mohanty
Jul 17, 2024 01:58 PM IST

The inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar will be reopened between 9.51am and 12.15pm on July 18 to shift the valuables to a strong room inside the temple complex

The inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri will be opened again on July 18 for inventorisation and auditing, four days after it was opened first.

The Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha. (File Photo)
The Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha. (File Photo)

Biswanath Rath, a retired judge of Orissa high court who is heading the high-level committee to oversee the audit of the Ratna Bhandar being done after 46 years, on Tuesday said the decision was taken during a meeting of the Ratna Bhandar Monitoring Committee in Puri.

The inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar will be reopened between 9.51am and 12.15pm on July 18 to shift the valuables to a strong room inside the temple complex, Rath said.

On Sunday, the team had to break open the three locks of the inner chamber as it could not open it using the keys that were given to them. The team members decided against opening the wooden chests kept inside the inner chamber due to lack of time.

Chief administrator of the temple Arabinda Padhee said the conservation work by the ASI will be carried out inside the inner chamber after shifting the valuables. “After we hand it over to ASI, the team will perform repair work as per the SOP. The key will not be handed over to the ASI. It will be with the District Collector. In case a key of any almirah inside the Ratna Bhandar goes missing, the state government has allowed us to open the container by breaking open the locks,” Padhee said.

Speaking to media persons, Justice Rath on Sunday said the team found broken stones on the floor of the inner chamber. “There is no doubt that the structure is in a very dilapidated state and needs extensive repair,” he said.

Incidentally, the Ratna Bhandar laser scanning report of ASI that was submitted to the SJTA in March this year had pointed out cracks in its outer walls. In November last year, the ASI conducted a condition mapping (laser scanning) exercise at 49 points of the Ratna Bhandar outer walls on its northern side to ascertain structural stability.

The 3D images obtained showed cracks at many locations on the weathered and weak lime plaster of the sloped surface on the Ratna Bhandar walls.

Justice Rath on Sunday informed that videography of the inner chamber has been completed. “The videography of almirahs and containers will be done again. We will try to complete the shifting of valuables in one day. An 11-member team will enter the inner chamber. Also, a technical team be kept on standby for further support in shifting the valuables. The state government has authorised the temple’s chief administrator to take further course of action related to the opening of the Ratna Bhandar. Accordingly, we have kept everything ready and focusing on finishing the process in a day,” he said.

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Tuesday, February 18, 2025
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