Puri: Following the directive of the chief minister Naveen Patnaik to institute a judicial probe into the missing Ratna Bhandara key, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has come up with a clarification claiming that all the ornaments of the Lords are in safe custody in the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandara.
In a press release, the temple administration has said the Ratna Bhandara has inner (Bhitara) and outer (Bahara) segments. Hence entry into Bhitara Bhandara is impossible without opening the Bahara Bhandara.
It further said the inner Ratna Bhandara was opened in 1985 for the inventory of the ornaments and was later closed with three locks one of which is still sealed with lac. This proves that the ornaments of the Lords in the Bhitara Bhandara are in safe custody.
The release also said following the directive of the Orissa High Court to the SJTA on March 22 and 29 this year to allow the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to examine the physical condition of the Ratna Bhandara, the SJTA as per the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1955, had sought the permission from the state government for the same to which the latter agreed to allow the ASI team inside the Ratna Bhandara. Later it was decided that the Ratna Bhandara would be opened for inspection on April 4.
According to the Jagannath Temple Act, the key of the Bhitara Bhandara has to remain under the custody of the District Treasury and on the basis of which the district collector was requested to hand over the key on April 4. But the collector, prior to the request, had informed the temple administration that the key is not with the District Treasury.
Acting on the information, the temple administration had a frantic search for the key and found a bunch of old and large-sized keys. Presuming that the keys belong to the Ratna Bhandara, a 17-member team including a technical team of the ASI had gone inside the Ratna Bhandara on April 4 and opened the Bahara Ratna Bhandara.
The release, however, said as the members were able to see the inner side of the Bhitara Bhandara through the grills of the Bahara Bhandara, they did not feel it necessary to open it.
After the inspection of the Bhitara Bhandara, a meeting of the Srimandir Sub-Committee was held in the afternoon on the same day to discuss the missing key issue. The decision taken at the meeting was discussed at the Srimandir Managing Committee meeting which was held at the Bhubaneswar Special Circuit House under the chairmanship of the Puri Gajapati King in the evening. The meeting later decided to apprise the state government of the missing key.
In the meanwhile, on behalf of the SJTA, the Niti Prasasak had an internal audit of all documents of the temple. Apart from this, information regarding the Ratna Bhandara key was collected from Rabindra Narayan Mishra, who was the Deputy Administrator of the Jagannath Temple in 1985.
The Niti Prasasak has submitted the internal audit report to the chief administrator of SJTA. Besides, the district collector has been requested for a thorough checking of the record room of his office.
Welcoming the judicial probe order by the chief minister, the temple administration said it would wholeheartedly cooperate in the investigation.
The release further said that the ornaments frequently used by Lords are kept in the Bahara Bhandara while the ornaments not used by the Lords are in the Bhitara Bhandara.
But the manner in which the media has presented the facts about the Bhitara Bhandara, the people are getting panicked. Such media reports are misleading and baseless as the ornaments of the Lords are kept in safe custody inside the Bhitara Bhandara, the temple administration has said and requested the people not to panic anymore.
