Puri: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will soon conduct a thorough inspection of the Ratna Bhandar (Treasury) of Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri before repair work of the structure is undertaken.
During a visit to Puri on Sunday, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters that a high-level team of the ASI will soon visit the 12th century shrine and inspect the internal structure of Ratna Bhandar.
Stating that the Odisha government has invited the ASI to conduct the inspection in Ratna Bhandar, he said necessary repair work of the structure will be undertaken after the ASI team.
Once the repair is complete, the government will take steps for doing the inventory of the valuables of the Ratna Bhandar. The old and current inventory lists will be tallied to find out that everything is in order, the Minister said.
It may be noted that the valuables of inner and outer Ratna Bhandar have been shifted to a temporary strong room set up inside the temple complex in two phases. Similarly, the empty chests and almirahs have also been shifted from Ratna Bhandar.
The ASI will also conduct necessary scanning to ascertain if any more valuables are present inside. The repair work of the structure will be taken up after the completion of the required scanning.
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