BHUBANESWAR: The inventory of Ratna Bhandar at Shree Jagannath temple will be completed before Rath Yatra scheduled on July 16 next year, informed Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Sunday.
Speaking to mediapersons, he said a standard operating procedure (SOP) is being prepared for the purpose and it is in its final stages. “The SOP was discussed during a high-level committee meeting recently. The inventory exercise will commence once the government approves the SOP,” he added.
Harichandan said the inventory is being planned to be carried out in three phases and will be conducted inside the treasury vault. “The government is making all possible efforts to complete the required formalities so that the exercise can be initiated without delay. Every essential step will be completed systematically before the counting process starts,” he added.
The minister informed that the counting exercise will involve experienced goldsmiths. “The exercise will also involve digital documentation (photography and cataloguing) and cross-verification with the last inventory record from 1978.
The counting will involve experienced goldsmiths, he said and added that digital documentation (photography and cataloguing) and cross-verification with the last inventory record from 1978 will also be made.
“Arrangements will be made to ensure that the daily rituals of the temple and darshan of devotees are not disrupted during the exercise,” Harichandan said.