Lord Jagannath plays a crucial role in the life of Odisha and its residents. When it comes to the affairs of the indoor management of the temple, many matters are shrouded in mystery. It is commonly believed that Lord Jagannath and the temple have a substantial quantum of valuable ornaments and cash at their command. The Sunabesa (decked-up in gold) is an indication of the extent of wealth at the disposal of the deities. It has become more mysterious when the keys of the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar have disappeared. The situation is a matter of concern for the entire community of devotees. Speculations have gone on in different directions, leading to public concern in the matter.

The events unfolded themselves in the following chronology: April 5 – Puri Collector discloses to the media about the disappearance of the keys of the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar; June 3 – His Highness Sankaracharya of Puri demands an inquiry into the serious matter and holds the Government accountable; June 4 – the Chief Minister orders an inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act into the circumstances relating to the disappearance of the keys and related issues; June 6 – the Government names retired judge of the Orissa High Court Justice Raghubir Das as the head of the commission; June 11 – the Chief Administrator of the temple (Pradeep Kumar Jena) is transferred from the post with public and political outrage simmering outside; June 13 – Puri Collector claims that his officials have found a sealed envelope containing the alleged duplicate keys of the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar. These events have to be coupled with the fact that the inventory of the Ratna Bhandar was done in 1926 and 1978. In the inventory of 1978, 128 kg of gold jewellery and around 221 kg of puja items and silver are reported to be listed. It is strange that we are now informed that 14 types of gold article could not be listed during this inventory for unspecified reasons. Beyond the above information is a mass of unverified claims of the valuables that are stored in the Ratna Bhandar. Strangely, in April 2018, the Government disclosed the quantity of gold kept in the treasury. Relying on the last inventory of 1978, the Law Minister informed the State Assembly that the treasury contains 128 kg gold jewellery and 221 kg of silver utensils.

It is common knowledge that there has been an organised opposition to a systematic inventory maintenance of the valuables of the temple and the deities. This resistance to appropriate recordkeeping and transparency comes from within the system itself. There has been murmurs from among the servitors opposing any inventory of the Ratna Bhandar with several excuses, including the supposed danger of entering the inner part of the Ratna Bhandar. There are allegations of blocking proposals of audit of the contents of the Ratna Bhandar. The present public concern relating to the missing keys has neutralised this opposition to a great extent. Many of the servitors now openly support a proper inventory and increased transparency. As per present practice, the temple administration makes public the amount of money and jewellery daily donated to the deities in the Hundi. Under such circumstances, there can be hardly any objection to prepare a proper inventory of the quantity of jewellery and other valuables kept in the Ratna Bhandar.

The trend has taken a turn and there are large number of servitors blaming the Government functionaries for having misplaced the keys. They further believe that the present crisis could have been avoided if the concerned functionaries maintained a regular inventory of the treasury. This leads to the justification for an audit of the contents of the Ratna Bhandar.

The so-called duplicate keys, kept in an envelope, purportedly in 1985, have not been accompanied by any supporting decision to keep a set of duplicate keys in the “Record Room”. The overall manifestation of the envelope, in which the alleged duplicate keys are kept, raised doubts as to its existence in 1985. That apart, in the governmental system of record keeping, making duplicates required a competent order of a competent authority. The “Record Room” does not appear to be a proper place where any keys are deposited for safe up keeping. For such situations, there are prescriptions under the governmental system for maintenance of records and accounts of the valuables. The mystery has thickened with the Puri Collector acknowledging the newfound alleged duplicate set of keys of the Ratna Bhandar. It must also be noticed that a responsible officer of the Government, who has been in charge of the Chief Administrator, has refused to comment on the duplicate keys issue. A Commission of Inquiry has been appointed with a reasonably elaborate terms of reference. The concern of the public at large relates to the situation in the interregnum. The original keys are missing and allegedly duplicate keys in a closed envelope have surfaced in a suspicious manner. The authorities are not forthcoming regarding the details of events with supporting official documents. The Commission of Inquiry will take some time to conclude its proceedings and finalise its report. The matter of public concern is whether the Government should hold its hand and not take any proactive steps to dispel all suspicions in the minds of devotees in general. There is an expectation that no proactive steps will be forthcoming till the report of the Commission of Inquiry is available and the Government takes action at its discretion. The need of the hour is, therefore, to fuse the two. The Government ought to facilitate a proper inventory of all the valuables in the Ratna Bhandar without getting repelled by a possibility of snakes guarding the wealth. The details of inventory can also be supplied to the Commission of Inquiry and it ought to be compared with the inventory of 1978 to scrutinise discrepancy. It should not be forgotten that any discrepancy in the matter has great emotive content. Mismanagement of the wealth of Lord Jagannath will not be a thing palatable to the devotees at large.

It is necessary in this context to have an assertive public opinion. More than 50 per cent of the population of India is below 25. This fresh manpower should also study the details and pioneer a public opinion that should cleanse the system rather than continuously keeping it polluted. This calls for organised extended activities to reform the administration of the temple. All efforts are to be articulated towards a better-managed abode of faith and devotion. This ought not to be confined only to the initiative of those who project themselves asserting monopolistic exclusivity.

(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha. jayantdas@hotmail.com)

Mismanagement of Lord’s wealth will hurt devotees