Bhubaneswar, Jul 14 (IANS): The Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of Jagannath Temple in Puri was finally opened after a gap of 46 years on Sunday.

The treasury of the 12th-century shrine opened in the presence of an 11-member team headed by retired Justice Biswanath Rath.

Rath is the chairman of the high-level inspection committee formed by the state government to supervise the opening of Ratna Bhandar.

Speaking to media persons after returning from the Ratna Bhandar, Arabninda Padhee, the chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), said the team has carried out the task of opening the treasury as per the SOP issued by the state government.

"We entered the outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar after opening the locks with the keys kept with Gajapati Maharaj, the king of Puri, SJTA and the Bhandar Mekap servitor. The ornaments stored in the outer chamber have completely been shifted to the temporary strong room inside the temple premises and later it was sealed in the presence of a magistrate," Padhee said.

Padhi further added that it took a long time to make a record of the ornaments stored in the outer chamber.

"Later, the team reached the gate of the inner chamber but all the three locks on the gate could not be opened with the keys brought from the district treasury. As the SOP of the state government has also mandated that in case the locks don’t open with the keys then the locks shall be broken. The locks were broken with the help of the servitor members. Then the whole committee entered the inner chamber and found that whatever ornaments stored there have been kept in some Almirahs and chests,” added Padhee.

Justice Rath said the team managed to enter the inner chamber after cutting the locks in the presence of the magistrate and others. He stated that videography was conducted inside the chamber after entering it.

He further added that more than four hours had elapsed by then.

“As seven to eight members of temple management are part of the team, they are busy as the Bahuda Yatra preparations have started, so we couldn’t get more time for further checking and shifting of the ornaments. So we decided to fix another date for the shifting of the ornaments and precious stones of the deities,” added Rath.

Rath said it would not be possible to do the shifting of ornaments to the temporary strong room from the inner chamber keeping in view the Rath Yatra-related rituals and the presence of a huge number of devotees during the period.

He said another day would be fixed after the deities return to their sanctum sanctorum on Friday for the opening and shifting of the ornaments from the inner chamber.

He also rubbished several myths surrounding the Ratna Bhandar such as the presence of huge snakes inside the inner chamber.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi also expressed joy over the opening of Ratna Bhandar, the treasure trove of the 12th-century shrine after 46 years.