Historic Transfer of Jagannath Temple Treasures Scheduled

Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain announced that the temporary transfer of ornaments from the Shri Jagannath Temple's Ratna Bhandar to a Treasury will occur Thursday morning. The inner chamber, recently re-opened after 46 years, will see valuables inventorized by an 11-member team.

Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain announced Wednesday that valuables from the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar at Shri Jagannath Temple will be temporarily transferred to a Treasury setup. This will occur between 9:51 am and 12:15 pm on Thursday, carried out by an 11-member team responsible for the inventory.

Speaking on the matter, Swain said, 'Our team of 11 members will enter the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar to execute the transfer to the temporary treasury.' Notably, the inner chamber was reopened on Sunday, July 14, for the first time in over four decades.

Inspection Committee Chairman Justice Biswanath Rath noted that while the outer chamber was opened, the team will attempt to access the inner chamber after 5-6 days. 'We inspected the site for five hours today but resealed it due to time constraints,' Rath explained. 'We'll reconvene in a few days to take stock of the ornaments.'

Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Office, Arabinda Kumar Padhee, confirmed that the outer chamber's valuables were shifted to a temporary strong room on Sunday. 'We followed SOPs, broke open the inner chamber's lock, and inventoried the valuables,' Padhee stated. The videography recordings are for internal records only.

The Odisha government approved the re-opening of the Ratna Bhandar to inventory the jewels following protocols. In honor of the occasion, the Chief Minister's Office of Odisha tweeted, 'Jai Jagannath! The temple's doors opened again with a great purpose after 46 years. I believe this endeavor will be successful.'

Special boxes were brought to Shri Jagannath Temple to facilitate the valuables' transfer. The ongoing effort marks a significant administrative and cultural milestone.