Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government on Thursday dissolved the High Level Committee constituted by the previous BJD govt headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat for the inventorisation of Ratna Bhandar of Puri Srimandir and constituted a new 16-member panel under the chairmanship of former Judge of Orissa High Court, Justice Biswanath Rath.
Announcing the formation of a 16-member committee, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said that the Odisha state government has decided to conduct an inventory of the treasures stored in the Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath Temple.
“The new committee is scheduled to meet at the office of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) at Puri on July 6 and take a decision regarding the inventory of the temple’s treasury,” the Law Minister added.
Also, a Gazette Notification from the Law Department issued Thursday reads:
The Government have been pleased to dissolve the High Level Committee constituted constituted vide Notification No.JTA-04/2024/2933/L, dated 02.03.2024 for supervising the process of inventorization of valuables including jewelleries stored in the RATNA BHANDAR of the Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri.
A High Level Committee is hereby reconstituted, under the Chairmanship of
Justice Biswanath Rath, to supervise the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee
in carrying out the inventorization of valuables including jewelleries stored in the RATNA
BHANDAR of the Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri with the following members:⇓
Chairman
- Justice Biswanath Rath
Members
- Dr. C.B.K. Mohanty
- CA Rajib Sahu
- Jagdish Mohanty, Retd. IAS
- Prakash Mishra, Retd. IPS
- Swami Pragyananda Ji
- Harihar Hota
- Padmashree Sudarsan Pattanaik
- Representative of Sri Sri Gajapati Maharaj
- Representative of A.S.I
- Madhu Sudan Singhari
- Janardan Pattajoshi Mohapatra
- Jagannath Das Mohapatra
- Soumendra Muduli
- Collector, Puri
- Chief Administrator, SJTA
The reconstituted committee includes various members, such as retired IAS and IPS officers, servitor representatives, and a renowned sand artist. The committee’s primary responsibility is to oversee the inventorization of valuables, including jewellery, stored in the temple’s Ratna Bhandar.