Bhubaneswar, Jun 8: Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal today asked the authorities to uncover the truth behind the missing keys of the inner chamber of ‘Ratna Bhandar’, the Jagannath temple treasury.
Describing the incident as “unfortunate”, he said in a statement that he was eager to know the facts on how the keys had gone missing.
Stating that the entire issue was an emotional one for the people of Odisha, the governor welcomed the judicial probe ordered by the state government.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has constituted a judicial commission headed by retired Orissa High Court judge Ragubir Dash to probe the circumstances under which the keys of the Ratna Bhandar’s inner chambers went missing.
Of the seven chambers of the Ratna Bhandar, the first two are outer chambers which are used from time to time, and the others are called inner chambers.
At a meeting of the Sri Jagannath Temple Managing Committee on April 4, it was recorded that the keys of the inner chambers of the Ratna Bhandar had gone missing,
However, the matter came to the fore last week.
It was on April 4 that a 16-member team entered the ‘Ratna Bhandar’ after 34 years and had a quick scrutiny of its physical conditions amid tight security following an order of the Orissa High Court.
The April 4 inspection followed the Orissa High Court’s order to the Archaeological Survey of India to examine the structural stability and safety of the Ratna Bhandar.
The high court is monitoring the repair works undertaken by the ASI in the shrine since 2016, while adjudicating a plea for judicial intervention for effective repair and renovation of the temple.
Prasanta Patnaik