Bhubaneswar/Puri: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended the names of two experts for assessing and cataloguing the valuables in Ratna Bhandar of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan informed on Friday.
“Based on our request, the RBI has selected two members to oversee the inventory process. We will notify the RBI of the schedule once the items are moved from the strong rooms to the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar. The inventory will then be conducted in their presence,” he said.
Last month, the state government had written to the RBI Governor to send two of its officers who have experience in making inventories of treasures of popular temples in the country.
Harichandan further stated that the process of shifting jewellery and precious stones of the deities into the inner Ratna Bhandar will begin once the Temple Managing Committee is constituted and it grants the permission. “The committee will be formed very soon to oversee the proceedings,” he asserted.
The 12th-century shrine has been functioning without its governing body for the last 10 months, impacting its administration. The principal decision-making body, an 18-member managing committee tasked with policy decisions, completed its three-year term on September 3, 2024.
