Second phase of Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar inventory begins

The second phase of the inventory of the Puri Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar (treasury) commenced on Wednesday and is scheduled to continue till April 11, officials said. The first day of the second phase of inventory continued for seven hours, an official said.

A select team of servitors, gemologists and goldsmiths entered the sacred treasury at 11.30 am, along with Ratna Bhandar Committee chairman Justice Biswanath Rath, and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration’s (SJTA) Chief Administrator, Arabinda Padhee.

The inventory work will be held on April 9, 10, and 11, while subsequent sessions are scheduled on April 13, and then again from April 16 to 18, Padhee said.

The exercise, the first in 48 years, began on March 25, and the daily-use ornaments of the deities were inventorised on the first phase.

Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, the titular king of Puri, inspected the inventory work inside the Ratna Bhandar.

He is also the chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC), the highest decision-making body of the 12th-century shrine.

“The inventory work is going on smoothly in the presence of SJTA chief administrator Arabinda Padhee and Justice Rath. Only selected persons were present in Ratna Bhandar during the inventory,” Deb said.

Expressing satisfaction over the inventory works, the Gajapati Maharaja said that the SOP approved by the State Government is strictly followed and scientific inventory is done through videography, photography, and 3D mapping to ensure transparency.

Deb said there should not be any time frame for completion of the exercise, but the stress should be given on accuracy and perfection.

Replying to a question, he said that efforts are on to complete inventory work by the ‘Snan Purnima’ bathing ritual on June 29, before the annual Rath Yatra.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Harichandan said that during the ongoing inventory, the articles and valuables are aligned with those conducted last time in 1978. Now, digital photography is also being arranged to create a detailed visual record of the valuables, the minister said.

The temple functions under the law department of the Odisha Government.

Referring to the first phase of inventory on March 25, Padheee said, “During the first phase, the entire process was documented through videography, photography, and 3D mapping to ensure transparency. A digital catalogue of the daily-use ornaments was prepared and stored in separate chests, categorised by metal type.”

The IAS officer said that the ongoing phase focuses on the outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar, where festival ornaments and jewellery are stored.

Justice Rath said that this inventory includes the famous ‘Suna Bhesa’ (golden attire) ornaments used on the chariots and four other occasions.

According to the 1978 list, the treasury holds 111 items, comprising 78 gold-mixed articles and 33 silver-mixed jewellery pieces.

He said the temple rituals continue uninterrupted during the exercise, and devotees are getting ‘darshan’ from the outer barricade for security reasons.

Padhee earlier said that the inventory is being done on three categories of storage, according to the SOP.

The inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar, where the Lord’s ornaments and valuables have been stored for centuries, comes under Category-1, while the jewellery and ornaments only used during festivals are stored in the outer chamber and are tagged Category-2. The ornaments of daily use came under Category-3.

While the third category was inventoried on March 25, the current exercise is for the second category ornaments, as the items currently adorned by the deities could not be counted earlier.

Elaborate security measures have been made by the district police in view of the exercise, officials said.