The government acknowledged the receipt of the report of a judicial inquiry into the missing key episode of the Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of the Shree Jagannath Temple. The report will be tabled in the state assembly after a thorough review.
State Home Minister Tusharkanti Behera informed this while replying to a query on Monday. “The government has received the commission report on Ratna Bhandar’s missing key and the same is being reviewed,” he said.
It may be recalled here that the Naveen Patnaik Government had ordered a judicial inquiry into the non-availability of keys of the Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of the 12th century Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri on June 5, 2018. The mysterious disappearance of treasure keys had triggered a furor.
A team of experts from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) inspected the Ratna Bhandar in 2018 to find out whether the chamber required preservation and repair works.
Later, a 16-member team that had entered the ‘Ratna Bhandar’ on April 4, 2018, for scrutiny of its physical conditions had to inspect its inner chambers from outside an iron grill with searchlights as the keys were missing.
Priceless gold jewelry, gems, pearls and rare diamonds apart from silver and other decorative items of the temple’s three presiding deities- Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra – are reported to have been treasured in the Ratna Bhandar. All these treasures have poured in from devotees from various parts of the country as tokens of reverence to Lord Jagannath.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL), concerning the contentious issue, is now under adjudication of The Orissa High Court.
Ever since the Naveen Patnaik Government assumed power in the State in 2000, the government has constituted judicial commissions of inquiry in 24 cases including the Ratna Bhandar key disappearance issue. The government is in receipt of 20 final reports and one interim report of the 24 cases. Final reports of 13 commissions of inquiry so far have been tabled in the Assembly.