Odisha govt to probe Jagannath temple Ratna Bhandar key mystery

The Odisha government has said it will conduct an inquiry into why the duplicate keys of the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar, the treasury of the 12th-century Jagannath temple in Puri, could not open the locks on 14 July.

The Ratna Bhandar was reopened on Sunday after 46 years for an inventory of valuables and the repair of its structure.

Members of a special committee tried to open three locks on the doors of the inner chamber of the treasury, but not one of them could be opened with the two 'duplicate' keys available with the Puri district administration, Jagannath temple chief administrator Arabinda Padhee had said.

Law minister Prithviraj Harichandan said, "A lie was spread over the availability of duplicate keys of the Ratna Bhandar during the previous BJD government. This matter will definitely be investigated."

The Jagannath temple is under the state government’s law department.

On 4 April 2018, the government attempted to reopen the Ratna Bhandar for a physical examination, but the effort was unsuccessful due to the unavailability of the keys. After some days, the government said duplicate keys were found.

If someone has ever touched the ornaments of Lord Jagannath, he would definitely face the consequences, the minister said.

"I hope that such an incident might not have happened. We can get a clear picture of this after completion of the inventory," Harichandan said.

The reopening of the Ratna Bhandar was a major political issue during the recently held Assembly elections. The BJP came to power in the polls dethroning the BJD which was ruling the state since 2000.

Senior BJD leader Amar Prasad Satpathy demanded making public the report of justice Raghubir Das commission formed to probe the issue of missing keys of the 12th-century shrine's treasury.

Without conducting a further inquiry into the matter, the government should present the commission report along with the action taken on it, the BJD leader said.

The commission was formed in June 2018 to probe the circumstances under which the keys of the Ratna Bhandar went missing. The panel submitted its report to the state government in November of that year, but it was not made public.

Opposition Congress and the BJD have urged the BJP government to present a clear picture before the public about the Ratna Bhandar keys.

"Why were the locks broken? Where are the original keys of Ratna Bhandar? The people are eagerly waiting to know about the original keys. So, the government should present a clear picture before the public," Odisha Congress spokesperson Biswaranjan Mohanty said.

As the three locks could not be opened using the duplicate keys on Sunday, the special committee members followed the standard operating procedure and broke the three locks in the presence of a magistrate to enter the inner chamber, Padhee had said.

The Ratna Bhandar, located in the basement of the temple, has two parts. The outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar stores ornaments used by the deities on a daily basis, while many pieces of jewellery are kept in the inner chamber of the treasury.