TV
With Lord Jagannath and His siblings being away on a nine-day-long journey, the discussions surrounding the reopening of Srimandir’s Ratna Bhandar have gathered steam.
Speculations regarding the reopening of Ratna Bhandar have been rife since July 6 when Justice Biswanath Rath, who is heading the new Committee formed to supervise the reopening of Ratna Bhandar at Jagannath temple for repair and inventory of valuables, said that the decision regarding the opening of Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of Puri Srimandir will be taken in the next meeting on July 9.
It is being speculated that a concrete decision on the date of the reopening of Ratna Bhandar may come tomorrow.
“The works department, temple administration and ASI, all are working together, following the new committee’s SOP and the government’s direction,” said NC Pal, technical committee head.
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“The inventory of the ornaments can’t be done at the present place of the Ratna Bhandar. They should be transferred to another suitable location on the temple premises. The process will be initiated only when the security certificate is obtained. It was also discussed that the process would be transparent,” said Rajib Sahu, a member of the Srimandir Ratna Bhandar Committee.
It is believed that the kings of Puri had donated the precious stones, stone-studded crowns and other ornaments they brought with them after defeating different states in battle. Last time, the inventory of these valuables took more than 70 days. It is expected that this time the inventory will be completed comparatively in less time due to the availability of modern technology.
“We will supervise the inventory of the ornaments. It can’t progress without the involvement of knowledgeable persons who can identify the ornaments,” said Justice Biswanath Rath, chairman, of the Srimandir Ratna Bhandar Committee.
In 1805, the then Puri Collector Charles Grome made a list of the ornaments kept in the Ratna Bhandar. At that time, there were 1333 items including 74 types of ornaments. Similarly, it was mentioned that the Ratna Bhandar had 128 gold coins, 1297 silver coins, 106 copper coins and 24 ancient gold coins.
Then, another list was prepared in 1978. In the list, it was mentioned that the treasure trove had 454 types of gold ornaments weighing 12,883 ‘bhari’ and 293 types of silver ornaments weighing 22,153 ‘bhari’. The deities’ running treasure trove had eight types of gold items over 299 ‘bhari’ and 23 types of silver items weighing 2603 ‘bhari’.
The inventory of these items is said to be a huge challenge before the committee.
“Nowadays, a lot of machines are available to identify diamonds and stones. There are also methods of identifying metals, without damaging them,” said Mitesh Khimji, director, Khimji Jewellers.
