The inventory of valuables inside the inner Ratna Bhandar of the Shree Jagannath Temple continued for the 17th consecutive day on Tuesday. The eight-hour-and-23-minute exercise focused on verifying diamonds, sapphires, pearls, rubies and other precious gemstones against the temple’s 1978 inventory records.
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee said the process is being carried out in strict compliance with the state government-approved Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), under CCTV surveillance and in the presence of a magistrate and other authorised officials. He added that the schedule for the next phase of the inventory will be announced later.
Following the Sakala Dhupa rituals at 11:30 am, the special inventory team entered the temple and completed the day’s work at 7:53 pm. With today’s exercise, the inventory of five out of the six cupboards inside the Ratna Bhandar has been completed.
The documentation process includes photography, videography, 3D mapping of all valuables and the preparation of detailed catalogues of gemstones. Since each gemstone is examined and authenticated by experts, identifying and counting a single category of gems takes nearly an hour.
On Monday, officials measured three wooden boxes kept inside the Ratna Bhandar to facilitate the preparation of new storage boxes. Once the gemstones are counted, they will be transferred to the newly made boxes. As the cramped space inside the Ratna Bhandar makes it difficult to open the wooden boxes and count the ornaments, the counting will instead be carried out in the temple’s bedroom, which is currently being prepared for the exercise.
Justice Biswanath Rath, chairman of the high-level committee overseeing the inventory, along with authorised servitors, Chhatisha Niyog Nayak, Tadhaukaran, Deulakaran, Bhandar Mekap Sevak, members of the temple management committee and other authorised personnel, have been extending dedicated cooperation throughout the process, Dr Padhee said.