Odisha reconstitutes Jagannath temple treasury audit supervisory panel
In February, the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government formed a 12-member committee on a high court order for the preparation of the inventory of the valuables in the Ratna Bhandar
The Odisha government disbanded former Supreme Court judge Arijit Pasayat-led 12-member committee hours before it was due to meet on Friday to discuss the modalities of audit and inventorisation of Puri Jagannath temple treasury Ratna Bhandar. It has constituted a 16-member panel led by former Orissa high court judge Biswanath Rath to replace the committee and to supervise the process.
Odisha law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said the new panel will meet in Puri on Saturday to discuss the modalities of opening the treasury. He added a date will be announced on that day.
Sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik, retired police officer Prakash Mishra, and former bureaucrat Jagdish Mohanty will be among the members of the new panel. The temple’s chief administrator will be the member-convenor.
In February, the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government formed the 12-member committee on a high court order for the preparation of the inventory of the valuables in the Ratna Bhandar. The old committee held two meetings and it was due to meet for the third time on Friday.
The Ratna Bhandar near the sanctum sanctorum of the temple has two chambers—Bahara Bhandar (outer chamber) and Bhitara Bhandar (inner chamber)— containing gold and silver jewels offered to Lord Jagannath.
As per the last inventory dating back to 1978, 454 gold articles weighing 128.380 kg and 293 silver items weighing 221.530 kg were in the two chambers. The inner treasury had 367 gold items weighing 43.640 kg and 231 silver articles weighing 148.780 kg. The outer treasury had 84.74 kg of gold and 73.64 kg of silver.
The outer chamber is opened for rituals of deities. The inner chamber has been closed since 1978. The Jagannath Temple Act says there has to be an audit of all valuables in the inner chamber every three years.
The reopening of Ratna Bhandar was a major poll plank in this year’s assembly elections. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) highlighted the “disappearance” of the treasury key in 2018.
Top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah spoke about Odia Asmita (Odia pride) and targeted the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government over it. In its election manifesto, the BJP promised an audit and inventorisation of the treasury if voted to power.