CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has called upon the high-level committee constituted by the state government to oversee the inventory of items in Puri Shree Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar to expedite the process.
The high court gave the call while recently taking on record an affidavit filed by the superintending archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Puri, confirming that conservation work of the Ratna Bhandar of the Shree Jagannath temple had been completed and the premises formally handed over to the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on July 6, 2025.
The division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice MS Raman said: “Once the inner Ratna Bhandar and other Bhandars have already been repaired and restored, the inventory of the jewellery, articles and the valuables is required to be ensured and we expect that the committee would make all endeavour in this regard, not only to protect such assets but also to ascertain the quantity and the quality of those valuables, which are kept in the Ratna Bhandar for the past several hundred years.”
The high court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Dillip Kumar Baral, a resident of Puri. Advocate Anup Kumar Mohapatra represented the petitioner.
The bench noted that the core concern of the PIL extends beyond structural preservation of the 12th century temple and includes the inventory of jewellery, ornaments and other valuable offerings belonging to Lord Shree Jagannath. The court recalled that historically, inventories of temple valuables were conducted in 1952 and 1978 after the state assumed administrative control of the temple.
Acknowledging that a committee headed by a retired judge of the Orissa High Court has already been constituted to oversee the inventory process, the court requested it to activate the inventory process at the earliest.
“Since the committee has already been constituted for making an inventory, we, therefore, request the committee to activate the process and we are hopeful that the government and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration would render all cooperation and assistance to the committee in this regard,” the bench observed on December 23.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on January 27, 2026, when the state has been directed to apprise the court of the progress made in compliance with the court’s directions. A committee headed by a retired judge of the Orissa High Court has already been constituted to oversee the inventory process.