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The inventory of the Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri began after a gap of 48 years for documentation of the jewellery and other valuables stored in the 12th-century shrine, officials said.
Temple servitors, bank officials, gemologists and representatives of the RBI took part in the inventory process on the first day.
As reported by PTI, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration’s (SJTA) Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee said that the first day of inventory work was wound up after six hours of counting, weighing, videography, photography and 3D mapping of the valuables.
He said authorised personnel entered the temple around 11.30 am, dressed in traditional dhoti and gamchha, and the exercise commenced during the designated auspicious window between 12.09 pm and 1.45 pm.
The inventory work started exactly at 12.12 pm and ended for the day around 6.15 pm.
“The entire inventory exercise was carried out in the presence of a magistrate and videographed,” he said, adding the exercise did not disrupt daily rituals at the shrine.
Devotees were allowed darshan from the ‘Bahar Katha’ (outer barricade inside the temple), while access to the ‘Bhitara Katha’ (inner barricade) remains restricted during the process, Padhee said.
Refusing to divulge details about the items that underwent the inventory process during the day, Padhee said that it was carried out as per the SOP framed by the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC), the highest decision-making body of the shrine, and approved by the state government.
He said all the authorised persons are prohibited from revealing the matters of Ratna Bhandar outside now.
