Lord Jagannath’s Bhitar Bhandar Opens, Ornament to be Shifted Today

Bhubaneswar: As scheduled, the 11-member high-level committee constituted for reopening of the Ratna Bhandar of Lord Jagannath’s Srimandir in Odisha’s pilgrim city Puri entered into the Bhitar Bhandar or inner chamber of the temple to resume shifting of ornaments.

After all the ornaments are shifted the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will take possession in the inner chamber to carry out repair work.

The committee chairman Justice Biswanath Rath who along with Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Padhee and nine other members spent nearly seven and half hours inside Ratna Bhandar.

Justice Rath dismissed the presence of any tunnel in the Bhitarpandar. He also rejected the rumour of presence of any creatures in the treasure trove.

“A lot of stories were being circulated in social media that there is a tunnel and presence of creatures. We spent over seven hours inside the inner chamber. We didn’t see any tunnel, nor any creatures, including a cockroach, ant or frog,” said Justice Rath.

After the inner chamber was unlocked, the team got engaged in shifting all the ornaments and valuables to the ‘Khatasheja’ room inside the temple. The shifting process is expected to be completed by this evening.

After the shifting is completed, the ‘Khatasheja’ room will be sealed and repair work of the inner chamber will be done ASI.

“Only after the repair work is completed by the ASI, inventory work will begin,” informed Gajapati King Dibyasingha Deb on Thursday.

Deb informed that the almirahs and chests inside the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar are intact and the process of moving and shifting had already begun.

“High-security systems, special secure doors have been used at the temporary strong room. Today, all the ornaments and valuables will be kept inside, after that, the room will be locked and sealed. As per the Temple Rules, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator would deposit the keys in treasury,” said the Puri King.

After the inner and the outer chambers of the Ratna Bhandar are vacant, high-end equipment and scanning devices will be carried inside and used to check if anything has been left out or not. Only after the administration realises that there is nothing inside, it will be handed over to the ASI for necessary repairs which is highly important, sources in the SJTA said.

“The repair work of Ratna Bhandar is highly essential as nobody knows when the last repair was undertaken. ASI took over in 1971; and since then, no repair work has been taken up," said Deb, adding, the rituals of the deities and darshan by devotees will go simultaneously and the administration will make necessary provisions in this regard.

Asked if there are some tunnels or secret pathways inside the Ratna Bhandar, the king said everything will be clear after ASI conducts an inspection using high-sophisticated instrument and laser scanning.