Puri: The eleven-member Ratna Bhandar reopening committee led by its Chairperson Justice Biswanath Rath has successfully shifted the treasure from Bhitara Ratna Bhandar to "Khata-Seja Ghar" the designated temporary strong room in Sri Jagannath temple on Thursday.
It took about seven and a half hours to shift all the wealth of the deities to the temporary strong room under video camera recordings amid tight security.
The committee members after darshan of Mahalaxmi, Vimala, Bhubaneswari, and Sri Loknath, opened the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar by 9.51 AM, the auspicious time determined by the astrologer.
The work was accomplished by 5.15 PM, Justice Biswanath Rath said in the presence of the Chief Administrator and the Convenor of the committee Arabinda Padhi the District Collector and Superintendent of Police briefed the media.
As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) eleven members including the Convenor of the committee Chief Administrator Aravind Padhi, District Collector Sidharth Shankar Swain, Superintendent of Police Pinak Mishra, a Magistrate entered the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar and began shifting the treasure under digital documentation by video camera recording of every process.
The support staff included power supply personnel, fire personnel, a doctor, a team of ODRAF, and three snake helpline members.
The wealth was stored in three wooden almirahs, one steel almirah, two (Sinduka) iron, and one wooden chest. Since the width of treasure chests (sindukas) are bigger than the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar door the committee on the spot decided to open these chests and almirahs and took the contents to the temporary strong room, Justice Rath said.
He said the chests and almirahs were opened and there were treasures kept in small boxes.
Without opening these boxes, they were shifted to the strong room.None of the members saw any ornaments as these were not opened.
The Bhandar mekapa (servitor in charge of handling the Bahar Ratna Bhandar ornaments) and almost all our team members participated in the shifting work, Justice Rath said.
Except for the power supply team ,services of other support staff were not needed during the operation ,he added.
Justice Rath advised the YouTubers and social media not to spread rumours regarding the treasure of the deities. The team, he said, could not see any tunnel in the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar.
As per the SOP, we cannot go for laser scanning or further investigate Ratna Bhandar but to open both the Bahar and Bhitar Ratna Bhandaras and transfer the treasures to two separate temporary strong rooms under tight security and CCTV recordings.
Since the opening of Bhitar Ratna Bhandar is done after nearly four decades, an opportunity has come our way and the committee will very soon deliberate for further investigation into Bhitar Ratna Bhandar using modern gadgets.
After getting a government SOP in this regard , we will go for it, Justice Rath said.
The Keys of both the strong rooms and all almirahs and chests were handed over to the collector which will be deposited in the district treasury ,Justice Rath added.
Gajapati Dibyasingh Dev who is one of the important members of the eleven-member team also went to the temple through Dakshin Dwar (south gate).
As per tradition, Gajapati should not enter through the Simhadwar (main gate). He and his family members are to enter and exit using the South gate.
He stayed there for some time, observed the shifting process and came out.
The Gajapati said the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar, to his knowledge, has never been repaired since 1972 when the temple was entrusted to ASI for conservation.
The Bhitar Ratna Bhandar, as per the records, was last opened in 1985. It needs complete repairs, the Gajapati said and did not rule out the existence of secret compartments or rooms in the Ratna Bhandar.
He said laser scanning and other gadgets could be used to find out if there are any such facilities inside the Bhitar Bhandar.