Puri king: Temple admn to take a call on opening of Ratna Bhandar

Bhubaneswar: Amid growing demands from several quarters for reopening of Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar (treasury) for maintenance, inspection and inventory of the valuables, Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb on Tuesday said the shrine administration will soon take appropriate steps on the issue.
“Shree Mandira Ratna Bhandar’s repair and inventory of the valuable articles is a very important matter for the temple managing committee. It has been discussed by the managing committee earlier and appropriate steps will be taken soon by the temple administration. There is no question of ignoring the Ratna Bhandar issue,” Deb told TOI after chairing the temple managing committees meeting in Puri on Tuesday.
Temple’s chief administrator Vir Vikram Yadav said the Ratna Bhandar issue could not be discussed in the meeting as it was not part of the agenda. “We will soon discuss the issue and let you know,” Yadav said. Some members of the managing committee reportedly requested the Puri king, who is the chairman of the committee, to discuss the Ratna Bhandar issue. However, their proposals were rejected.
According to official records, it was 1978 when the Ratna Bhandar was opened for the purpose of inventory of the valuables. No inventory has since been made so far. The treasury was last opened in 1985 to use some gold for the repair of Lord Balabhadra’s ornaments.
Quoting the 1978 inventory, former law minister Pratap Jena had in April 2018 told the assembly that nearly 128 kg of gold jewelleries and