Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai. The treasury of the world famous Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha was opened on July 14 afternoon, in which a huge cache of gems and jewellery was found. During this, 11 people including government representatives, ASI officials, representatives of Shri Gajapati Maharaj and 4 sevadars were present in the storehouse. The Chief Administrator of Puri temple informed that the items of the outer Ratna Bhandar have been shifted to 6 wooden boxes and sealed, but the items of the inner Ratna Bhandar could not be shifted. Now this work will be done after Bahuda Yatra and Suna Vesha. According to the committee chairman Justice Rath, new locks have been installed in both parts of both the treasury. A digital listing of the valuables found here will be done, which will contain details like their weight and manufacture.

ASI monitored the opening

After opening the door, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Superintendent DB Gadnayak said that the Ratna Bhandar will be surveyed for repairs. Coming out, Justice Rath said that the keys given by the Puri District Collector did not open any lock of the inner storehouse. So the team went inside the storehouse by cutting the locks. They stayed there for 5 hours. After shifting the goods from the outer storehouse, the lock of the inner storehouse was broken.

Overseer SP fainted

On the other hand, as soon as the second door of the Ratna Bhandar was opened, SP Pinak Mishra fainted, although the reason for this could not be known. Later he was treated in the temple premises itself. Earlier, the Ratna Bhandar was last opened 46 years ago in 1978. In 2018, an attempt was made to open the treasury on the instructions of the High Court, but the original keys could not be found. The Bharatiya Janata Party had also put this issue in its election manifesto, which was fulfilled as soon as the government was formed. These boxes made of wood were brought for the jewellery and other items taken out from the Ratna Bhandar. Gold and silver jewellery and utensils are kept in this. According to the Chief Administrator of the Temple Administration (SJTA), Arvind Padhi, 3 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were made for the entire process.

Treasury was re-sealed

The treasury was re-sealed by installing new locks and the keys were handed over to the authorities. The internal storehouse will be opened after 5-6 days. After shifting the goods, it will be left empty for the people of ASI. This entire process has been videographed. Earlier, there were often rumors that there were snakes in the Ratna Bhandar (treasury). After the opening of it, media reports said that when the committee members returned, they said that there was no snake inside the treasure. However, the team had already made preparations and two teams of snake catchers were formed, one went inside and one team was stationed outside. At the same time, according to a temple sevadar, water has been found in the treasury. Odisha Deputy CM Pravati Parida said, "The Chief Minister has instructed that we have to be present there. We will stay there from today and see that the counting is done comfortably. Therefore, QRT, Rapid Action Force was also deployed to deal with any unpleasant situation outside the temple."

It could not be opened in 2018

In 2018, the Odisha High Court directed the state government to open the treasury, but on April 4, 2018, when a team of 16 people reached the chamber of it on the orders of the court, they had to return empty-handed, because the key of the treasury was lost. When the key was not found, there was an uproar, after which the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a judicial inquiry on June 4, 2018. The inquiry committee submitted its report related to the key to the government on November 29, 2018, but the government did not make it public and nothing could be found about the key.