Odisha Govt misleading public on inventory of Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar: BJD

Bhubaneswar, July 11 (UNI) The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today accused the BJP-led Odisha government of misleading the public regarding the enumeration of ornaments stored in the Ratna Bhandar of the Shree Jagannath Temple.

Addressing a press conference, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty alleged that the “double engine” BJP government has been deceiving the people of the state for over a year in the name of conducting an inventory of the Ratna Bhandar.

“It is highly unfortunate that State Law Minister, Prithviraj Harichandan, has now stated that the enumeration process will take another three months,” Mohanty said.

He criticised the Minister’s statement that the Reserve Bank of India’s assistance has been sought for the inventory process, calling it “unacceptable.”
“Has the Reserve Bank ever been involved in the enumeration of temple treasures before? Is there any provision under the Shree Jagannath Temple Act that allows for RBI’s involvement in this matter?” Mohanty questioned.

The BJD leader further alleged that instead of beginning the enumeration, the government has kept the precious ornaments of the Lords in a different location for over a year, creating doubts in the minds of the devotees.

He demanded that the government come clean and dispel the confusion surrounding the enumeration of Lord Jagannath’s ornaments and wealth stored in the Ratna Bhandar.
Earlier, the Law Minister had stated that a letter would be sent to the RBI to depute two officers for the process.

Prior to that, the ornaments would be relocated to the original Ratna Bhandar, as the conservation and repair work had been completed.

He also mentioned that a high-level meeting would be convened soon to finalise a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the enumeration. The process, including the comparison of the current list with the 1978 inventory, is expected to begin in August.

Notably, the Odisha government had previously opened the Bhitara Ratna Bhandar by breaking the locks and shifted the entire treasure in two phases to temporary strongrooms within the temple premises.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), using non-invasive tools and ground-penetrating radars, has since completed the prescribed conservation and repair work on the Ratna Bhandar