Puri: As per schedule Jagannath Temple, Puri’s Ratna Bhandar, was reopened on July 18 for the second time in a week. The process of shifting valuables also started from inner Ratna Bhandar to a temporary strong room. Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb also joined the high-level panel which entered the Ratna Bhandar for inventory.
The treasury was reopened at 9.51 am. This Shubh mahurt was decided earlier by the committee in a meeting held on July 16.
The members of a supervisory committee set up by the Odisha government for the shifting of valuables from the Ratna Bhandar first offered prayers before Bhagwan Jagannath and his siblings. They also offered prayers before Maa Bimala, Maa Lakshmi and other Parshwa devatas in the temple premises. Then they entered the temple around 9 am.
Before entering into the Ratna Bhandar, the supervising committee’s chairman and Orissa High Court former judge Justice Biswanath Rath said, “We sought the blessings of Lord Jagannath for smooth completion of shifting of all valuables stored in the inner chamber of the treasury.”
It may be noted that last time, the treasury was opened on July 14 after 46 years. On that day, the ornaments and valuables of the outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar were shifted to a strong room. However, the shifting of inner Ratna Bhandar could not be done due to a shortage of time.
Ratna Bhandar needs to be repaired: Galapati Maharaj Divya Singh Dev
Ratna Bhandar at Jagannath temple in Puri needs to be repaired said Gajapati Maharaj of Puri Divya Singh Dev after returning from temple. Talking to media persons Gajapati Maharaja said, it is in dispensable to repair both the outer and inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar. After shifting all the valuables from the inner chamber to a temporary strong room, We will hand over to the ASI for repair work.
“The strong room where the valuable shifted from the outer and inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar is under CCTV surveillance round the clock. The iron door will be completely sealed after shifting the containers from Ratna Bhandar to the temporary strong room. Then the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) administrator will submit the key to the Government treasury as for Sri Jagannath Temple rules”, Puri Gajapati Maharaj said
“After Ratna Bhandar both outer and inner chambers are completely vacated, the structure will be inspected by using high technology instruments and scanning machine. When the Temple administration is convinced that there is nothing left inside the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar, We will hand over the charge to ASI authorities for conservation.”, added Gajapati Maharaj
“We don’t know when the Bhandar room had been repaired in the past. We have no evidence about repair work since 1971 when the ASI took charge of repairing the Jagannath Temple. So the repair work of Ratna Bhandar is very essential,” he further added.
