BJP, Congress corner ruling BJD over opening of Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath Temple

The last inventory of jewellery and precious stones were carried out in 1978 when Ratna Bhandar had 1.2 quintal gold and 2.2 quintal silver ornament

BHUBANESWAR, 01/01/2023: Devotees, visitors and local people are seen on the queue in front of the Shree Jagannath temple as they are rushing to enter inside the temple to take darshan of temple ditties in the beginning day of new year 2023 at Puri. Photo: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT | Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT

A delegation of Odisha State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday met Dibyasingha Deb, chairman of Managing Committee of Shree Jagannath Temple and titular king of Puri, reiterating its demand for opening of the Ratna Bhandar, the temple’s treasury.

“Resentment is brewing among devotees of Shree Jagannath Temple over non-opening of Ratna Bhandar. The government had constituted Justice Raghubir Das Committee in 2018. The government has not disclosed the content of committee’s findings,” said Sameer Mohanty, former BJP State president.

Subsequently, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government came up with a confusing statement on the keys of Ratna Bhandar being missing, said Mr. Mohanty.

The BJP delegation said that despite the Orissa High Court ordering constitution of a committee on September 29 and Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee adopting a resolution to open the Ratna Bhandar on August 4, the State government was yet to take a call on this.

The last inventory of jewellery and precious stones was carried out in 1978. For obvious reasons, the State government had shown ‘reluctance’ to open the treasury of Shree Jagannath Temple. 

. The Ratna Bhandar  had more than 1.2 quintal gold and 2.2 quintal silver when it was opened in 1978. In addition to this, there is a sizeable amount of gold ornaments which are in regular use in the temple.

The BJP delegation expressed concerns over the safety of the Ratna Bhandar. BJP leaders said devotees wanted to know if ornaments remained as safe as before.

Recently, the State unit of Congress had taken out a massive procession in Puri raising similar demand. Congress President Sarat Pattnayak had told reporters that government must come clean on the Ratna Bhandar.

Opening of Ratna Bhandar has been an emotive issue. As opening gets delayed, devotees are getting impatient and growing suspicious about the ornaments’ safety, blaming the Biju Janata Dal, which has been in power for the past two decades, for the delay. Some top BJD leadership admit that the Ratna Bhandar issue would be one of most potent issues the in next election.