What is in the Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple? It took seven hours to bring it to the temporary store room

Transfer of Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath Temple

The Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha was transferred to a temporary store room today. This work took 7 hours. The process of shifting gold ornaments and other valuables was done as per the SOP of the high-level committee. Earlier, members of the supervisory committee constituted by the Odisha government to transfer the valuables from the Ratna Bhandar entered the temple at around 9.51 am.

took seven hours

The shifting of precious items and jewellery kept in the iconic ‘Ratna Bhandaar’ (treasury) of the 12th century Jagannath temple in Puri to a temporary store room was completed within seven hours on Thursday. The Ratna Bhandaar was opened for the second time this week to shift the valuables to a temporary ‘strong room’ inside the temple complex, he said. “All the valuables from the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandaar have been successfully shifted to a temporary ‘strong room’ within the temple complex. The entire process of shifting seven containers, including wooden and steel shelves and chests, took seven hours,” Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief Arvind Padhi told reporters.

What’s in the treasury

Justice Biswanath Rath, chairman of the supervision committee and former judge of Orissa High Court, said that the jewellery and valuables inside the inner chamber were kept in seven containers, which included three wooden shelves, two wooden boxes, a steel cupboard and an iron box. He said that all the valuables were carefully placed in new containers and later shifted to a temporary ‘strong room’ inside the temple premises. Rath said that the ‘strong room’ was sealed and the keys were given to the Puri District Magistrate. The keys will be kept in the treasury. Responding to questions about the treasure, Justice Rath said – “The details of what we saw inside the inner chamber are confidential. Just as one does not disclose the valuables in his house, similarly it would be inappropriate to publicly disclose the treasure of the Lord.”