ASI urged to commence Ratna Bhandar repairs

Bhubaneswar: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has requested the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) authorities to immediately take up the repair, maintenance and conservation work of the entire Ratna Bhandar (treasury) in the 12th centuryshine in Puri.

The SJTA chief administrator, Arabinda Padhee, on Saturday said the temple administration will extend all its cooperation to ASI in the repair and maintenance of the Ratna Bhandar. “We have received the report of the Ratna Bhandar’s GPR-GPS survey conducted by the ASI”, Padhee said. He said the SJTA has all along been careful about the stability and security of the temple.

Earlier, the ASI had conducted the GPR-GPS survey of the 12th-century shrine’s Ratna Bhandar with the assistance of Hyderabad-based NGRI (National Geophysical Research Institute).

Padhee said the ASI has given a 45-page report on the survey. “There has been indication of damage done to the floor and wall of the Ratna Bhandar. However, the technical report needs to the studied further by our team”, he said.

The GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) survey was conducted to assess the condition of both outer and inner chambers of Ratna Bhandar to ascertain possible existence of any hidden tunnels or structures. Sophisticated equipment was used by the expert team in the presence of the nine-member Ratna Bhandar committee, chaired by Justice (Retd) Biswanath Rath, to scan the walls of the treasury to assess the exact status of the structure.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said repair work of Shree Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar will start in a day or two and completed by January 31. “After the repair work is completed, the valuables will be brought back to the treasury from the strongrooms and the inventorisation will begin in accordance with the temple’s established rules,” he said.

The minister said no secret chambers were found in the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar during the GPR survey. It, however, detected cracks and voids in Bhitara and Bahara Bhandars, he added.

Ratna Bhandar was reopened in July this year after 46 years for an inventory of valuables and the repair of its structure.