Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar/Puri: The Law department of the Odisha government today gave its nod to Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) to open Puri Srimandir's Ratna Bhandar, the chamber containing Lord Jagannath’s treasure trove, for inspection.

The SJTA informed that the government, in response to their earlier request, granted permission to open the Ratna Bhandar for inspection for repairs and a letter pertaining to the same has been received.

"I have been informed that a letter has been received by the Srimandir authorities in which the Law Department has granted permission to open the Ratna Bhandar. I am yet to check the details. Standard operating procedure will be followed while opening the Ratna Bhandar,"

The Orissa High Court had earlier allowed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to carry out an inspection of the Ratna Bhandar.

The Chief Administrator (Rituals) Pradeep Kumar Das had said that the inspection would be carried out only for the sake of assessment of structural condition of the inner chambers and no articles or any other items inside the chamber will be inspected.

Earlier, members of Jagannath Sena had registered their protest against the decision of the temple authorities to open the Ratna Bhandar citing that in the name of inspection, the treasure in the temple will be explored.

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