BHUBANESWAR: Counting of Trinity’s ornaments and jewels inside the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar of Shree Jagannath temple is likely to begin in August, Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said on Tuesday. The repair and renovation of the Ratna Bhandar was completed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Monday.
Harichandan said, the government will take the help of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the inventory of Ratna Bhandar, in a bid to make the entire process transparent. A high-level meeting will soon be convened for deciding the modalities of the inventory process. The RBI will be soon requested to nominate its experts who have prior experience in inventory of ornaments at major temples in the country like Somnath temple.
Currently, the ornaments and precious stones of both Bahara and Bhitara Bhandar have been sealed and kept in two strong rooms within the shrine complex. “New iron chests were already made for storing the jewels and these will be brought inside the Ratna Bhandar prior to the inventorisation. As soon as RBI designates its experts, the process will begin. This is likely to be done in August,” the minister said.
Since the jewellery and other precious items of Bhitara Bhandar cannot be taken out of the shrine, the inventory will be done inside the Ratna Bhandar. After the process is over, a digital catalogue of the jewellery, precious stones and other valuable contents of the Ratna Bhandar will be created for reference for any future inventory.
“During the inventory, each sealed piece of jewellery will be opened and photographed for the digital catalogue. Name, weight and quantity of each piece of jewellery will be recorded and matched with the inventory report of 1978,” he said.
The last inventory of both the chambers of Ratna Bhandar was done in 1978 by a nine-member committee headed by the then governor of Odisha BD Sharma. The ASI on Tuesday handed over the Ratna Bhandar to Shree Jagannath Temple Administration.
Meanwhile, following demands by the Srimandir Chhatisha Nijog and other sevayats on preparing a new set of gold ornaments for each deity, the minister agreed but said no gold from the Ratna Bhandar will be used. If things go as planned, new jewellery will be made for the Trinity by next Suna Besha, he said.
“Government has started discussions on this. Over the years, the gold ornaments of the deities have started wearing out. For instance, the Shree Payara of Mahaprabhu has been flattened at places. Government will make provisions to meet the gold requirement for the new jewellery and we will also urge devotees to donate for the purpose,” Harichandan said.