Odisha sets up committee for preparing inventory of Jagannath temple’s treasury

The Odisha government on Thursday a 12-member high-level committee headed by former Supreme Court judge, justice Arijit Pasayat (retd) to supervise the process of preparing an inventory of valuables stored inside the ‘Ratna Bhandar’ of Jagannath Temple in Puri in line with the Orissa high court order.

Eminent heart surgeon Ramakant Panda has been named the deputy chairman of the committee and the chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA)will be the member convener. Other members are former chairman and managing director of Allahabad Bank Bidhubhusan Samal, chartered accountant A K Sabat, Puri king Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, a representative of ASI, servitors representatives and deputy chief administrator of SJTA.

In September last year, the Orissa high court ordered the formation of a high power committee to supervise preparation of the inventory of the valuables including jewellery in the Ratna Bhandar, the temple’s treasury.

According to Madala Panji, the official chronicle of the temple, King Anangabhima Deva donated nearly 1.5 quintals of gold for preparing the ornaments of the three deities. In an affidavit filed in high court last month, the temple administration said there was gold jewellery weighing about 149.47 kg and silver jewellery weighing 198.79 kg and utensils in the Ratna Bhandar.

According to the Jagannath Temple Act, 1955, the Ratna Bhandar needs to be opened for inventory every three years. The treasury was last audited between May 13 and July 23, 1978. The treasury was then opened in 1985 to use some gold for the repair of Lord Balabhadra’s ornaments.

On April 4, 2018, the government had made an unsuccessful attempt to reopen the Ratna Bhandar for a physical examination of the structure. However, it could not be completed as the keys of the Ratna Bhandar’s inner chamber could not be traced.

Following outrage over the missing keys, chief minister Naveen Patnaik constituted a judicial commission headed by retired Justice Raghubir Das to probe into the missing keys. The commission submitted its report in December 2018.