Puri: Finally, the wait is over as all the valuables from the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of the Shree Jagannath Temple have been shifted to ‘Khataseja ghara’- the designated temporary strong room.
The exercise which began at 9.15 am, took over seven hours to complete at 5.15 p.m today.
“With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Maa Subhadra and Lord Chakraraj Sudarshan I want to give you the good news that the process of shifting of gold ornaments of the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar (inner chamber of the treasure trove) has been completed as per the SOP laid down by the government,” informed Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) to reporters after coming out of the shrine.
Chairman of the high-level committee for opening of the Ratna Bhandar Justice Biswanath Rath also reiterated the SJTA Chief Administrator’s words that the shifting of the gold ornaments and other valuables of the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar has been completed.
“We opened the lock at the earlier defined auspicious time of 9.51 am after taking the blessings of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Maa Subhadra atop the chariots, Maa Mahalaxmi, Maa Bhubaneswari, Maa Bimala, and lastly Dwarapal Lord Lokanath. The shifting was completed at around 5.15 pm. There were three wooden almirahs, one steel almirah, 2 wooden ‘sandooks’ and one iron sandook inside the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar. All the ‘sandooks’ (boxes) and almirahs were opened and their contents were transferred in the same order to almirahs and locked as per SOP decided by the government,” said Justice Rath.
He pointed out that since there was no space for the sandooks inside the temporary strong room, its contents were transferred to almirahs in the same order.
Justice Rath dismissed the presence of tunnels and secret chambers in the Ratna Bhandar as rumours. He appealed to the media and YouTubers not to spread such rumours.
