Puri. The Ratna Bhandar (treasure) of the Jagannath temple of Odisha was opened for the first time after 46 years on Sunday afternoon at 1:28 minutes. The Chief Minister’s Office of Odisha has shared the information about the opening of the store room by posting on Twitter. During this time, a team of 11 people including Puri Collector, Chief Administrator of Jagannath temple, ASI officials, and representative of Gajapati Maharaj are present in the store room. In this room full of treasure, apart from the ornaments of Lord Jagannath, sister Subhadra and brother Balabhadra, a digital listing of the total property of the temple will be done including the property received since 1978.
Archaeological Survey of India officials who were part of the team that opened the storehouse said that the government will make a list of all the precious items present in the storehouse along with their weight. ASI Superintendent DB Gadnayak said that engineers will survey the Ratna Bhandar to repair the storehouse. The government has also ordered 6 large wooden boxes to keep the treasure safe and in an organized manner.
Let us tell you, before opening the room full of treasure, the permission of four deities was taken. First the permission of Goddess Bimla and Goddess Lakshmi was taken, after this the permission of Bhawan Loknath, who takes care of the treasury, was taken. For this, the ritual of Agniya was completed this morning and permission was sought from God to open the Ratna Bhandar Griha.
A team of snake charmers and doctors were called before opening the Ratna Bhandar
According to religious beliefs, a group of snakes protect the treasures in ancient temples. Temple committee members said that the hissing of snakes is often heard from the Ratna Bhandar. Therefore, before opening the store room, 2 snake charmers and a team of doctors have been called to deal with the emergency situation. Keeping security in mind, devotees have been prevented from entering the temple during this time. 15 platoons of police have been deployed in Puri, while five platoons are inside the temple for security.
CMO Odisha shared the information on social media:
CMO Odisha gave information in Odisha language on social media platform Twitter and wrote- Jai Jagannath, O Lord! You are rhythmic. The whole world is subjugated by your will. You are the heartbeat of the orthodox nation. The best example of the identity and self-respect of the Ordaya community.
As per your wish, the Odonia community has today started its efforts to move forward with its Asmita identity. The four doors of the temple were first opened as per your wish. Today, after 46 years of your wish, the Ratna was opened with a great purpose. I firmly believe that this great work will be successful.
With your blessings, I pray that we will forget all the stereotypical caste, class, colour and above all political differences and move ahead to create a new identity of Odisha in the spiritual and material world.
See tweet:
Jay Jangid
Hey man!
Tamil Nadu: Tha man has become so sad that he doesn’t even know what to do. Tha man has become unconscious due to pain. It is difficult to control oneself after seeing this sadhu.
I have no idea why this happens and what is the use of my body. Tha man has become so sad that he doesn’t even know what to do…
— CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) July 14, 2024
Let us tell you, the Ratna Bhandar of the 12th century temple was last opened 46 years ago in 1978 and its reopening was a big political issue during the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state. According to sources, the Ratna Bhandar has three parts – the outer chamber in which the jewelery used in rituals is kept, the inner chamber keeps unused jewelery and other valuables donated by kings and devotees over the centuries.
According to information, the 11-member team includes Justice Vishwanath Rath, Dr. CBK Mohanty, Prabin Parida (representative of Puri Gajapati (king) Dibyasingha Deb), Chatis Nijog Mahanayak (chief servant) Janardan Pattajoshi Mohapatra, Chief Administrator of Srimandir Arabinda Kumar Padhi, Puri District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials, Bhandaar Mekap Narayan Mekap, Deula Karan Chandrashekhar Mangaraj and Tadau Karan Sudhanshu Shekhar.
After digital listing of the total assets of the temple since 1978 till now, information will be revealed about how much treasure is there in the Jagannath temple.