PURI: Ending the 34-year wait, a 16-member team entered the 12th-century Lord Jagannath Temple’s ‘Ratna Bhandar’ on Wednesday but the entire inspection ended in a quick 40-minute scrutiny of the structure’s physical conditions.“The team members undertook inspection of the walls, ceiling and floor of the Ratna Bhandar. The walls and ceiling were found to be damp,” said Chief Administrator of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) P K Jena, who was among the team that entered the Ratna Bhandar. Of the seven chambers of Ratna Bhandar, the first two are outer chambers which were used from time to time, and the others are called inner chambers.
After offering ‘bhog’ to deities, the door of ‘Garbhagruha’ was closed. At about 2 pm, the 16-member committee opened the locks of Bahar Bhandar Ghar (outer treasury room) after observing the statutory protocol. They examined the Bahar Bhandar (daily use items of deities) and Bhitar Bhandar (where unused items of deities are stored) and noticed cracks and dampness on the wall.“The condition of inner chambers were seen with search lights from outside. The members did not need to enter the inner chamber as they were visible from a distance,” said Jena.
The ASI experts and other team members felt that there was no further necessity to open the door. After conducting the inspection for 40 minutes, the members returned.After inspecting the Ratna Bhandar, the committee members held a meeting on the temple complex and prepared a report. The report would be presented to Orissa High Court. The final assessment would be submitted by the committee within a month, Jena added.
The inspection, carried out under heavy security measures, followed the Orissa High Court’s order to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to examine the structural stability and safety of Ratna Bhandar, treasury of the world famous shrine.District Magistrate Arvind Agarwal said the crack found on Ratna Bhandar has been video-graphed and would be further examined by the experts. He said the High Court had directed that visual inspection of the structure be conducted to ascertain its status. In response to a public interest litigation that the condition of Ratna Bhandar of the temple is in bad shape as rain water percolates through the roof, the High Court had directed the ASI and other authorities concerned to examine it.
The temple administration, after getting permission from the State Government as per the Jagannath Temple Act, had constituted a panel comprising the 16 members.While the inspection was being conducted, an Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and fire fighters waited outside the temple premises. A team of the Snake Helpline from Bhubaneswar was also deployed.Hundreds of devotees were eagerly waiting outside the temple to know about the Ratna Bhandar, but they were left disappointed as the team members refused to divulge what they had witnessed in the Bhandar.