BJP’s Samir Mohanty files PIL in Orissa High Court for opening of Ratna Bhandar

Cuttack: The demand for the opening of Puri Srimandir treasure trove, the Ratna Bhandar gathered steam as former Odisha BJP president, Samir Mohanty fied PIL for opening of Ratna Bhandar for repair & inventory of ornaments.

The debate over the stability and safety of Ratna Bhandar is not new as the demand for its immediate repair gained pace after a 16-member team, including experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), inspected the structure in April 2018 and reported its condition to be weak.

Reportedly, Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb has sought an immediate inventory of the jewellery stored in the Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of the Jagannath temple. Deb also stressed on the urgent repair of the treasury.

As per official records, the Ratna Bhandar was opened for the purpose of inventory of valuables in 1978. No inventory has been done since then. The treasury was then opened in 1985 to use some gold for the repair of Lord Balabhadra’s ornaments.

Quoting the 1978 inventory, former law minister Pratap Jena had in April 2018 told the assembly that nearly 128 kg of gold jewellery and 221 kg of silver utensils were stored in the treasury, which has two portions — outer chamber and inner chamber. Valuation of the listed jewellery during the 1978 inventory was not made.

As per the Jagannath Temple Act, 1955, the Ratna Bhandar should be opened for inventory every three years. The treasury was last opened and audited from May 13 to July 23 in 1978 during the term of Janata Party government when Nilamani Routray was chief minister.

On April 4, 2018, the government had made an unsuccessful attempt to reopen the Ratna Bhandar for a physical examination of the structure. However, the inspection could not be completed as officials failed to open the treasury owing to the unavailability of keys to the inner chamber. Amid the outrage over the mysterious disappearance of the keys, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had then constituted a judicial commission headed by retired Justice Raghubir Das to probe into the issue.