Jagannath Sena Activists Hold Demo For Opening Puri Ratna Bhandar

Puri: The controversy surrounding ‘Ratna Bhandar’ of Shree Jagannath Temple at Odisha’s Puri reared its head again with a local outfit staging a demonstration in the pilgrim town on Wednesday demanding quick steps to open the treasure chamber and repair the structure.

Activists of Shree Jagannath Sena led by its Convenor Priyadarshan Pattnaik gathered outside the 12^th century shrine holding placards and raising demand for the safety of ‘Ratna Bhandar’.

Stating that the matter is slated to come up before the Orissa High Court is slated for hearing on Thursday, Pattnaik said though the HC had in October last year suoght an affidavit on the opening of Ratna Bhandar in four weeks, no concrete step seemed to have been taken.

Asking the state government to either submit an affidavit in the High Court stating that Ratna Bhandar is safe and secure or take immediate steps to open the chamber and undertake repair work, he said the inner structure is believed to be in a dilapidated condition.

Moreover, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had also written to the temple administration about the need to open the Ratna Bhandar for inspection, but there has been no response so far, Pattnaik said, adding that all these raise suspicion over the safety of the treasury.

Stating that a team had visited Jagannath Temple for opening and inspecting Ratna Bhandar in 2018, he said the move was dropped at the last moment on the ground that the key was missing. Since than no step has been taken for the safety of Ratna Bhandar, he alleged.

“If the government is clean and transparent, why is it afraid of opening the Ratna Bhandar,” Pattnaik asked.

The Convenor of Jagannath Sena, which had submitted a written complaint with the CBI last year alleging loot of precious items from Ratna Bhandar, sought to know as to who will be responsible if precious jewelleries are found missing from Lord Jagannath’s treasure trove.