Puri: After a break, the inventory process of the Ratna Bhandar of Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri is set to resume from May 11, officials said on Saturday.
Counting and verification of ornaments and other valuables stored in the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar had been temporarily suspended because of the ongoing Chandan Jatra rituals of the sibling deities at the 12th century shrine.
The inventory process will now resume from Monday and the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will be strictly followed during the exercise, Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Arabinda Padhee said.
Notably, the inventory was carried out for nearly 57 hours and 8 minutes during the previous nine-day phase. During this period, more than 120 ornaments kept inside the inner chamber were counted, completing nearly 20 per cent of the total inventory work.
Inventory inside the inner chamber could be conducted only for four days during the nine-day operation in the treasury, officials said.
When the counting is completed, all valuables will be cross-verified with the temple records of 1978. Each ornament will undergo weighing and identification with assistance from gemologists before being digitally documented and securely packed.
Gold, silver and other valuables will be wrapped in colour-coded cloths and preserved systematically in specially prepared chests according to their metal classification to ensure transparency and long-term preservation.
The inventory exercise had originally begun on March 25 under extensive security arrangements involving temple servitors, bank officials, gemologists and representatives of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
SJTA had earlier stated that nearly 80 per cent of the movable treasures inside the Chalanti Ratna Bhandar had already been counted using modern technologies such as 3D mapping, photography and videography during the first phase of the process.
The second phase of the inventory had been conducted from April 8 to 10, while regular rituals of Lord Jagannath and public darshan continued without disruption throughout the exercise.
