Sudarsan Pattnaik questions 6 years delay in repairing Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar

Bhubaneswar: Shree Jagannatha Temple Managing Committee member Sudarsan Pattnaik on Wednesday wrote to Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, urging him to instruct the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to take up immediate repair and maintenance work of inner Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of Lord Jagannath in Puri.

“Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is mandated to repair and maintain this classical temple as necessary. In 2018, the technical committee of ASI inspected the inner Ratna Bhandar Chamber (Bhandara Ghara) and found many structural problems/damages in the walls, ceiling, and in overall basement structure. They had recommended immediate repair the issues to fix them. The laser scanning done in February 2024 also detected cracks on the outside of Ratna Bhandar,” he wrote.

The recommendations were not acted upon even after 6 years, raising suspicion, he said, adding that damages might have further deteriorated. “I pray your honour on behalf of devotees of the Mahaprabhu, to instruct ASI to take up the repair and maintenance work of inner Ratna Bhandar immediately, as the forthcoming monsoon may cause further damage and threaten the integrity of entire temple structure,” he added.

This came a week after the state government clarified that it had received no proposal from temple managing committee regarding opening of Ratna Bhandar after a flip-flop by the ASI on the schedule of its opening.

On June 19, ASI’s superintending archaeologist (Puri circle) D B Garnayak, who is also one of the committee members, told the media that Ratna Bhandar would be opened on July 8, a day after the Lords embark on the annual Rath Yatra, after attending the temple managing committee meeting. Garnayak subsequently retracted his earlier statement.

The ASI, temple officials and servitors already expressed concern over the structural weakness and cracks on walls of the divine treasure trove located on the northern side of Jagamohan (a hall) near the sanctum sanctorum. Cracks were detected at many locations on the outer wall and joints during laser scanning taken up at 49 points on its northern side in November last year to ascertain structural stability.

The report, which was submitted to committee by ASI in February, stated that the point of conjunction at the northern wall, that connects Ratna Bhandar with the main temple’s Jagamohan, just below the first Pidha needs to be strengthened and properly water-tightened. It also called for de-plastering of its three outer walls since it was not sure if the cracks were on walls or the thick plaster on them.

Water seepage into the inner Bhandara was also revealed in a report submitted to the managing committee in 2018 when it also found that cracks had developed, some stones had fallen and some iron rods were missing.