Bhubaneswar: The managing committee of the Jagannath Temple in Puri has decided that it will recommend the state government to open the ‘Ratna Bhandar’ or the treasury of the 12th-century shrine for inventory and repair work during next year’s Rath Yatra.
Dibyasingha Deba, the titular Gajapati Maharaja who heads the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC), told PTI that he met a delegation of BJP leaders led by its former president Samir Mohanty, who filed a PIL over the matter in the Orissa High Court, and discussed the matter.
The managing committee meeting held August 4 decided that a recommendation will be sent to the government for opening the outer and inner ‘Ratna Bhandar’ during next year’s Rath Yatra for repair work by ASI, and an inventory of all valuables kept there, he told the BJP leaders.
“This would be the appropriate time since during the Rath Yatra, the Lords (deities) are away from ‘Shreemandira’ (temple), and, moreover, during the few months following Ratha Jatra, there are no major festival and the number of devotees-visitors are also relatively less,” he added.
Deba also told the delegation that the superintendent archeologist of ASI, who is a member of the managing committee, will soon carry out a laser scan of the walls of Ratna Bhandar from the inner boundary of the temple to assess its condition.
Disposing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Mohanty, the high court September 29 said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the managing committee of the temple will collaborate for the conservation work of the ‘Ratna Bhandar’.
The opposition parties in Odisha have been demanding an immediate inventory of the treasury as it has been shut for the last 45 years.
PTI