--Says custodian servitor, trashes allegation of loot of treasures: Amidst a demand for unlocking of inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath Temple for inventory of jewelleries after allegations of secret displacement of some royal crowns, Ganesh Mekap, the hereditary custodian (Bhandar Mekap), has expressed his disagreement in reopening the chamber.
Mekap said the unlocking of the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar would give rise to a lot of controversies leading to anger and unrest in the temple.
Such a revelation from a key servitor enjoying hereditary rights to protect Ratna Bhandar came when a plea urging reopening of the inner chamber for repair works by the ASI is pending in the Orissa High Court.
In an interview to The Pioneer, Mekap although didn’t expose the reason for his disagreement toward reopening of the inner chamber, yet he warned about a possible unrest in the temple.
Expressing his displeasure over a narrative that charged looting of some royal crowns, he said without his key, it is impossible to unlock the Ratna Bhandar.
He asserted that Ratna Bhandar is very much secured by three separate locks to the first door for which three separate keys are needed for unlocking.
When asked about the content of Ratna Bhandar, he said the ornaments being used in annual decorations of deities have been stored in the first chamber. About the inner chamber he said that neither has he entered the second chamber nor he has seen the stored invaluable.
He said he has been holding the key for the last 12 years after the death of his father, who had said about many more precious ornaments including some royal crowns stored in many wooden boxes inside the chamber.
Mekap said during the unlocking of the second chamber in 2018, he was present outside of it but due to mishaps, the reopening work was postponed in fear of more danger.