Tempers ran high outside the temple as visitations were stopped. Some priests invited the opening of the inner treasury, but others said it was not a good sign.
After over four died, the inner treasury of the Puri Jagannath temple's Ratna Bhandar was opened on Sunday. A day earlier, the Odisha government had permitted the same. This comes when the annual Rath Yatra of the temple's three sibling deities, Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra, is underway. No immediate repair work or incentivisation of jewels kept in the treasury was carried out. A temple managing committee member would assess the structural damage after shifting the inner Ratna Bhandari jewels and ornaments. This will happen on a date. "While legend has a sit where serpents guard the valuables inside the treasury, no snakes were found in the vault. No water was found to be dripping through the walls, as Puri King Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb claimed last year, and it is learnt. The jewels of the outer Ratna Bhandar have been shifted to a substantial room. Chief Administrator of the Jagannath temple, Arabinda Kumar Padhee, told reporters, adding that the inventory of the inner treasure jewels would happen later.
Teams of the ASI snake charmers, snake rescuers, and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force were deployed to open the treasury. One company of the Rapid Action Force was also deployed at the temple for crowd management. The teams were wearing lingots, as per tradition. Elaborate rituals were performed before entering the treasury. Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, and Lokantah, the Hindu god Shiva, were worshipped. The head priest of Puris Loknath temple came to oversee the rituals. The keys to the lock of the Ratna Bhandar did not work, and the lock had to be broken for the teams to enter, said the IAS Officer Parhi. At least five chests of red and yellow were also brought to the temple. Jewels from the outer Ratna Bhandar have been kept in the chests until the inner treasury repair work is completed. Justice Biswanath Rath, head of the high-level committee constituted for incentivising the Ratna Bhandar jewels, said the treasury was opened at 1:28 pm Sunday, and 11 people entered. A new lock has been placed on the inner treasury, and a new key has been sent to the treasurer via the district collector.
"The jewels are kept in an almirah, with two trunks and some boxes lying underneath. We didn't touch anything since we were short on time as arrangements for tomorrow ye=atrs need to be done". Originally under the care of the Gajapati of Puri, the Ratna Bhandar was first opened in 1905 by the British administration for inspection and inventories in 1926. It was last inventoried in 1978 under the supervision of a committee led by the then Odisha Governor Bhagabat Dayal Sharma.
Meanwhile, tempers were running high in front of the Jagannath temple as visitations were stopped, and the crowd was restricted by barricades along the circumference of the temple compound. "I came from Kolkata just to see the temple, and I am not allowed to do so. This is not fair", said Biswa Chatterjee, a devotee.
A temple priest, Somnath, told The Print: "We are delighted that the government has opened the treasury within 102 days of forming. We must determine that all the jewels are intact and conduct necessary repair work."
However, other priests appeared disgruntled by the exercise. "Lord Jagannath is not here. And we are opening the treasury behind his back. It is not a good," one of them said. The three sibling deities are taken to the Gundicha temple aboard chariots as part of the annual rath procession. According to tradition, they stay at the temple for nine days and then return. Another priest said the opening of the treasure trove shows Odisha is headed for difficult times. "Balabhadra recently fell on people. Now, we are opening the treasury. These are not good signs," he said, referring to last week's incident when the idol of Balabhadra feels on servitors while being not good signs," he said referring to last week's incident when the idol of Balabhadra fell on servitors while being taken to the Gundicha temple.
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