Congress Calls for White Paper on Puri Jagannath Temple's Ratna Bhandar

Bhubaneswar: The Opposition Congress party on Tuesday demanded that the Odisha government publish a white paper on ‘Ratna Bhandar’ (treasury) of the Jagannath temple in Puri. 

The party said the white paper should contain details of the records of valuables of the Ratna Bhandar, which were prepared in the past, and the inventory, which will be prepared this year.

In a press conference at party headquarters in Bhubaneswar, former president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), Prasad Harichandan pointed out the need for transparency and said that his party has been demanding the reopening of the Lord’s treasury for inventory and repair.

Demand To Reopen Ratna Bhandar

"Our party has long advocated the reopening of the Ratna Bhandar for both a comprehensive inventory and necessary repairs," Harichandan stated, acknowledging the recent move by the BJP-led government. 

The Ratna Bhandar, closed for 46 years, was reopened on Sunday to facilitate an inventory of its treasures and structural repairs. 

Although, many questions has been raised on the keys of the ‘Ratna Bhandar’ because the locks of the inner chamber of the treasury did not open with the duplicate keys available with the Puri district administration, the Congress leader said.

Members of a special committee tried to open three locks on the doors of the inner chamber of the treasury, but not one of them could be opened with the two ‘duplicate’ keys available with the Puri district administration, Jagannath temple chief administrator Arabinda Padhee had said.

“Earlier, the then Puri collector had informed that he had found duplicate keys of the Ratna Bhandar from the district record room. Now, it is being said that the keys were there in the district's treasury,” the Congress leader said.

Government Forms Committee to Supervise Inventory Work

“Justice Biswanath Rath, the chairman of the high-level committee formed by the government to supervise the inventory work, had clearly stated that the keys did not belong to the locks,” he said. 

The Congress leader asked about the original keys of the Ratna Bhandar. He requested the state government to count the valuables stored inside the Ratna Bhandar while shifting those to the temporary strong room, to maintain transparency. 

Further, the government should publish a white paper mentioning the inventory record of this year along with the records of 1978, 1952, 1905 and 1805, Harichandan said. 

However, another ex-president of OPCC, Niranjan Patnaik said that there is a need for a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of the Ratna Bhandar keys, which were, probably, last used in 1985. He urged the government to investigate and disclose the location of the keys as recorded in the government registrar during that period.

As the three locks could not be opened using the duplicate keys on Sunday, the special committee members followed the standard operating procedure and broke the three locks in the presence of a magistrate to enter the inner chamber, Padhee had said. 

The Ratna Bhandar, situated in the temple's basement, has two parts. The outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar stores ornaments used daily by the deities, while many pieces of jewellery are kept in the inner chamber of the treasury.

Temple Administration to Probe the Incident

The Congress party has also demanded a judicial probe led by a retired judge of Orissa High Court or Supreme Court on the alleged mismanagement during the ongoing Rath Yatra in Puri. 

OPCC President Sarat Pattanayak said that the ‘unfortunate’ incident during the ‘Pahandi’ (ceremonial procession) ritual of Lord Balabhadra during Rath Yatra in Puri has hurt the sentiments of Jagannath devotees. The idol of Lord Balabhadra fell on a group of servitors when the deity was being carried from his chariot to the Gundicha temple on July 9.

“The state government has asked the temple administration to probe the incident. As the administration is also responsible for the incident, we demand a judicial probe by a retired judge. The report should be published within a month,” he demanded. 

(With inputs from PTI)