Ratna Bhandar Key Issue: Dama Questions Puri Collector’s Role

Bhubaneswar: While the finding of the ‘duplicate’ keys of the Bhitara (Inner) Ratna Bhandar of the Shree Jagannath temple has triggered a fresh debate in the political circles as well as among the devotees in Odisha, senior BJD leader Damodar Rout has questioned the role of the Puri Collector.

“If the duplicate keys were kept inside the locker of the District Record Room, how has it not come to the notice of the district administration till date? Was the locker kept in lock and key till June 13 this year?’’ Rout told the media here on Friday.

Tthe Puri district collector has free access to all affairs of the Jagannath temple, he said. Then why has the present collector, during his four-year stint, not informed the state government about the missing keys? The collector has informed the media that he is ready for an investigation into the matter. Why has he made such a statement suo motu?

The BJD leader also said that the duplicate keys can only be made with the size of the original keys and hence, the question remains, if the original keys are missing, where have the duplicate keys come from?

To a question on the opening of the Bhitara Ratna Bhandar, he said there are reports in the media that the Bhitara Ratna Bhandar has been opened several times. He, however, said he had no knowledge about this despite being in politics for 45 years.

“As far as I know, the Bhitara Ratna Bhadar was opened in 1978 when Biswabhusan Harichandan (now the BJP leader) was the Law minister in the Nilamani Routray-led Janata Party government. If the Law minister had ordered the opening of the Ratna Bhandar, then it might have been opened and the inventory of the ornaments kept therein might have been done. After the inventory, the Ratna Bhandar must have been closed and the then Law minister should know where the Ratna Bhandar keys were kept”, Rout observed.

He further said though he does not know on whose order the Ratna Bhandar was opened in 1985,  the concerned Law minister, who had given the order, should know where the keys are kept. Why is this minister yet to say anything about the keys till now?

Commenting on Rout’s statement, Harichandan said it is the responsibility of the chief administrator of the Jagannath temple to keep the keys at the District treasury. The Law minister only gives instructions to the temple administration and gets the information regarding temple affairs.

He said on the basis of the interim report of the then governer Bhagawat Dayal Sharma in 1978, the state government had directed the temple administration to open the Bhitara Ratna Bhandar and make an inventory of the ornaments and other belongings of the Lords.

Asked about the particular keys with which the Ratna Bhandar was opened, Harichadan said he had no knowledge about it. However, he maintained that there were no duplicate keys of the Ratna Bhandar according to the temple manual.

“It is not the lookout of the Law minister to keep track of the Ratna Bhandar keys, rather the temple administrator has the responsibility to ensure the safety of these keys,” he asserted.