Puri, July 18: All the ornaments and valuables in the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar, the revered treasury of the 12th-century Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, have been shifted to a temporary strong room in the temple premises, informed Justice Biswanath Rath, former Orissa High Court judge and chairman of the supervisory committee on Thursday.

"There were three wooden almirahs, one steel almirah, two wooden chests and one iron chest inside the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar. All the valuables kept inside it have been carefully shifted to new containers and later shifted to the temporary strong room inside the temple premises," Justice Rath told reporters after coming out of the Ratna Bhandar this evening.

"The temporary strong room has been sealed and keys have been given to the District Collector, Puri. The keys will be kept at the treasury," he added.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator, Arabinda Padhee said, "The process of shifting valuables from Bhitara Ratna Bhandar (Inner treasury) to the temporary strong room inside the temple complex has been successfully completed."

The Ratna Bhandar was reopened this morning for the second time in a week for the shifting of valuables to a temporary strong room.

After offering prayers before Lord Jagannath and his siblings, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, the team along with the 11-member committee set up by the Odisha government reopened the Ratna Bhandar at 9.51 AM.

The treasury trove was opened last Sunday after 46 years to shift the ornaments and valuables of the outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar to a strong room.

Puri’s Titular King, Gajapati Maharaj Divya Singh Deb was also present in the Ratna Bandar to oversee the shifting of the valuables.

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