Justice Biswanath Rath Panel Proposes Date For Opening Of Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar on July 14.

Puri: The 16-member committee head by Justice Biswanath Rath on Tuesday proposed to open Ratna Bhandar (the treasury) of Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri on July 14.

According to sources, the proposal will be sent to the temple managing committee for its approval.

The decision was taken in the second meeting of the high-level committee reconstituted under the chairmanship of retired Orissa High Court Justice Rath to supervise the inventorisation of valuables, including jewellery stored in Ratna Bhandar, after 46 years.

Earlier speaking to the media, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan had asserted that the required repair work in the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar will be completed before the sibling deities- Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra- return to their abode after the annual sojourn at their birthplace, Shree Gundicha Temple, on July 19.

“We will certainly complete repair work before the deities return to Ratna Simhasan after Rath Yatra. Counting and weighing of valuables will begin on the very day decided by the committee,” he said.

He further stated that the government would examine the committee’s standard operating procedure (SoP) and take appropriate steps accordingly.  “We have to see that rituals are never affected during the opening of the Ratna Bhandar. The data of Ratna Bhandar will be digitally documented. If the lock doesn’t open with the available keys, that will be broken in the presence of the magistrate,” he said.

The Minister added that Garba Griha and Ratna Bhandar will be repaired every year during Rath Yatra henceforth. The ASI will set modalities.