Puri: The chests, carrying precious jewels and ornaments of sibling deities of Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri, will be shifted back to Ratna Bhandar (treasury) from the temporary strong rooms on September 23, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan informed on Wednesday.
“The ornaments will be transferred in the presence of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and a high-level committee,” he said after the meeting of the Ratna Bhandar sub-committee.
The treasury was unsealed on July 14, 2024, after a span of 46 years, for repair and conservation work and the ornaments were moved to the strongrooms on the temple premises. The extensive repair and restoration work, which began on December 17, 2024, was completed by the Archaeological Survey of India in July this year.
The Minister further stated that the long-pending proposal for shifting a hundi inside the Natya Mandap has received the approval of Chief Minister Mohan Majhi. It had delayed implementation of the dhadi (queue) darshan system at the 12th-century shrine.
“After consultations with the temple administration and the Puri collector, a suitable new location for the Hundi will be finalised, following which an experimental queue-darshan arrangement will be introduced,” he said.
Shifting of Lords’ Jewelleries
Briefing the media, SJTA chief administrator Arabinda Padhee said that the process will begin at 4 am with a special ritual called ‘Dwarafita’ and the ornaments will be shifted during the Amrut Bela (auspicious time – 7.17 am to 11.17 am). “The temple is likely to remain out of bounds for devotees for a few hours during the shifting process, but it will have no impact on the rituals. Only Palia sevayats will be allowed and accordingly security arrangements will be made. Once the ornaments are shifted back to Bhitara Ratna Bhandar, the doors will be sealed in the presence of a Magistrate, and the keys will be submitted to the district treasury,” he said.
The shifting process, if not completed on September 23, will continue the following day, he said.
“Inventory will be carried out after shifting of the valuables to Ratna Bhandar. The schedule for the inventory will be finalised soon,” Padhee added.
Notably, the reopening, repair and inventory of Ratna Bhandar was a key electoral promise of the BJP before they formed the goverment in the state in June 2024. The last inventory of both the chambers of Ratna Bhandar was done in 1978 by a nine-member committee headed by the then governor B D Sharma.
