Bhubaneswar. The Ratna Bhandar of Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha was reopened today. This Ratna Bhandar is full of priceless treasures. These include precious gems and jewellery, idols of rare metals, gold and silver coins, crowns and other ornaments. After a long gap of 46 years, the Ratna Bhandar was opened on July 14 to assess these treasures. However, after the inner lock was broken and opened, it was again closed for two days. It was reopened again on Thursday. According to the Ratna Bhandar Committee, the auspicious time to open the temple's treasury on Thursday is from 9:51 am to 12:25 pm. The Ratna Bhandar located in the inner part of the temple has two parts. One is the outer and one is the inner Bhandar. The outer part is opened on the occasion of various festivals and rituals including Rath Yatra and the idols of the Lord are decorated by removing the jewellery. The inner part has priceless treasures. According to Vishwanath Rath, the chairman of the committee formed by the government, apart from jewellery, there are many statues made of precious metals in Ratna Bhandar. Some of these are small and some are big.
During the counting of gems in the Ratna Bhandar, information about the treasure will be revealed to the people one by one. The property of the Ratna Bhandar will also be accounted for. However, keeping in mind faith and security, their value will not be assessed. The Ratna Bhandar is the repository of gold and silver ornaments and coins offered by kings, Maharajas and other devotees with devotion in the temple of Lord Jagannath. Earlier in 1978, it took 72 days to count the gems and ornaments in the treasury. In 1978, there were about 140 kg of gold ornaments in the Ratna Bhandar. These ornaments were studded with precious stones. Also, there were about 256 kg of silver utensils. According to the affidavit given by the Jagannath temple administration in the High Court, there are three chambers in the Ratna Bhandar. The inner chamber of 25 x 40 square feet has 50 kg. 600 grams of gold and 134 kg 50 grams of silver. These were never used. The outer chamber contains 95 kg 320 grams of gold and 19 kg 480 grams of silver. These are taken out on festivals and special occasions. The outer chamber contains 3 kg 480 grams of gold and 30 kg 350 grams of silver.