Bhubaneswar: There is no proposal to open the Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath Temple and audit the ornaments, Law Minister Pratap Jena informed the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday.
Precious jewellery and ornaments of the deities of the 12th century temple are stored in the Ratna Bhandar and only three of its seven chambers could be opened in 2018. Keys of the other four chambers of the treasury of the temple had reportedly gone missing.
Replying to a question by Congress member Suresh Routray and BJP member Kusum Tete, he said that the treasure trove of the temple was opened on July 14, 1985, during the tenure of the former Chief Minister JB Patnaik.
As per the audit made at that time, there are 454 gold ornaments of 12,838 carats and 236 silver ornaments of 18,815 carats. However, eight golden idols and six silver utensils have not been weighed, he added.
On October 29, Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik had also asked the state government to open the Ratna Bhandar and make an inventory of the ornaments stored there.
The inventory of the valuables was last compiled in 1978, he had said.
The government had prepared 142-page booklet, containing their numbers and types, after checking the jewellery in 1978 and the whole process reportedly took 70 days to complete, sources said.
