KalingaTV News Network
Puri: Finally the date for opening Ratna Bhandar, the chamber containing Lord Jagannath’s treasure trove, in Puri Jagannath temple, for inspection has been finalized. Chief Administrator of Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Pradeep Jena on Monday informed that the inspection will be done on April 4.
A ten-member team including experts from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will inspect the Ratna Bhandar. The inspection will be carried out only for the assessment of the structural stability and safety of the Ratna Bhandar.
The ten-member team includes Puri King Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb or his representatives, Pattajoshi Mohapatra, Bhandara Mekap, Tadhau Karana, Deula Karana, two engineers of ASI, two members of the ASI Core Committee- GC Mitra and NC Pal, and Advocate NK Mohanty, who has been appointed as Amicus Curiae by the Orissa High Court to inspect the on-going Jagamohan repair works.
All members of the Ratna Bhandar inspection team will go through a three-tier check before entry to the treasure trove.
All ten members of the inspection team will be frisked by police officials to bar them from taking any kind of metal items or electronic gadgets with them inside the treasure trove.
In the second stage they would be required to change their clothes by donning the ‘gamuchha’ (traditional towel) provided by the temple administration and only then would be allowed to pass through the ‘Beharana Dwara’ to reach near the entrance of the Ratna Bhandar.
In the final step, the inspectors would be scanned thoroughly by the servitors of the temple authorised to check the Ratna Bhandar entrants as per the temple tradition.
The Ratna Bhandar of the 12th century shrine was last opened in 1984.
Ms Kalinga AI