More than four and a half decades after it was last opened for audit, the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar, which contains precious jewellery belonging to Mahaprabhu Jagannath and his siblings in the 12th century Jagannath temple of Puri, was opened on Sunday afternoon by breaking its three locks.

The Ratna Bhandar, located adjacent to the sanctum sanctorum housing the primary idols and assembly hall, has long been regarded as the custodian of the Jagannath temple's wealth. It has two chambers — Bahara Bhandar (outer chamber) and Bhitara Bhandar (inner chamber) — containing the jewels of the Trinity.

According to “Madala Panji”, the official chronicle of the temple dating back to 12th century, Eastern Ganga monarch Anangabhima Dev III donated more than 250 kg of gold while other kings such as Gajapati Kapilendra Dev donated gold, jewels and utensils. During the last audit in 1978, the Odisha government reported that the inventory included over 149.6kg of gold ornaments adorned with precious stones, 258.3kg of silver utensils, and various other items.

On Sunday, its door was opened in the presence of a 12-member team comprising the head of the high-level committee appointed by the state government, officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and representatives of the temple trust.

“We carried out all the work as per SOPs. We first opened the outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar and shifted all ornaments and valuables kept there to the temporary strong room inside the temple. We have sealed the strong room,” Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Padhee said.

“The team then broke the three locks of the inner chamber as we could not open it using the keys that were given to us. The team members decided against opening the wooden chests kept inside the inner chamber due to a paucity of time. The ornaments and jewels kept in the inner chamber will be shifted to a temporary strong room inside the temple premises on another day as the temple administration will be busy with the Bahuda Yatra (return car festival) and other rituals from Monday,” Padhee added.

The missing keys to the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar have been a significant issue in Odisha since 2018 when a team led by chief secretary PK Jena attempted to open it but had to abandon the effort due to the keys being unlocatable. This sparked public outcry, leading the then Naveen Patnaik government to initiate a judicial probe headed by retired high court judge Raghubir Das on June 6, 2018, two months after the keys were discovered missing. Justice Das submitted his inquiry report to the state government on November 29, 2018. The judicial inquiry cost approximately ₹22.27 lakh, but the findings were never made public.

During the 1978 audit, it took officials 70 days to prepare the inventory of the valuables, people aware of the matter said.

The head of the audit supervisory committee formed by the state, Justice (Retired) Biswanath Rath, stated that the team “saw five wooden chests, four wooden almirahs, and one steel almirah” in the inner chamber. “Many other items might also be there, as we are yet to check behind the almirahs,” he said.

“On the wish of Lord Jagannath, the Odia community, with the identity of ‘Odia Asmita’, has started making efforts to move forward. On your wish, the four gates of the Jagannath temples were earlier opened. Today, on your wish, the Ratna Bhandar was opened after 46 years for a greater purpose,” the office of chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi said in a post on X in Odia.

In March 2018, following a public interest litigation, the Orissa High Court instructed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to inspect the structural condition of the Ratna Bhandar and provide a status report. On April 4 of the same year, a 16-member team attempted to enter the Bhandar. However, the keys provided to them by the Puri district collector did not match the padlock, and the government provided little explanation on how this discrepancy occurred.

The opening of the treasury became a major issue during the recent assembly elections, with the BJP highlighting the “disappearance” of the treasury key in 2018. From PM Modi to Amit Shah, all Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders raised the slogan of “Odia Asmita” (Odia pride) to oust the BJD government. The BJP, in its manifesto, promised an audit and inventorisation of the treasury if voted to power.

The opening of the Ratna Bhandar was surrounded by confusion in the past two weeks, as the state's new BJP government disbanded the previous panel led by former Supreme Court judge Arijit Pasayat, which was set up by the Naveen Patnaik government in February.

The temple's treasury has also been shrouded in superstition, with stories of mythical snakes guarding the riches becoming part of local folklore. This led officials to have members of the Snake Helpline and doctors on standby. However, no snakes were found when the chamber was opened.

Image source: PTI