India News | HC Seeks Details from SJTA on Opening of Ratna Bhandar
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Orissa High Court Tuesday directed Shri Jagnnath Temple Administration (SJTA) to submit a report on how long the diety's Ratna Bhandar in Puri temple has not been opened and why.
Cuttack, Oct 18 (PTI) Orissa High Court Tuesday directed Shri Jagnnath Temple Administration (SJTA) to submit a report on how long the diety's Ratna Bhandar in Puri temple has not been opened and why.
Hearing a writ petition on the opening of Lord Jagannath's Ratna Bhandar (treasury), the HC directed the SJTA to submit its report in an affidavit within four weeks.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice S Muralidhar refused to entertain at least three writ petitions in this connection during the day but accepted the one by Abhisek Das of Puri, who sought judicial intervention for taking stock of the properties and valuables in the Ratna Bhandar.
The treasury, which is part of the 12th century temple itself, has two chambers and is a storehouse of the jewelry, ornaments and precious stones of the diety.
The Court has fixed January 5, 2023, for the next hearing, the petitioner's counsel Alok Mohapatra said.
Demands for opening the Ratna Bhandar and making an inventory of the items stored in it are being made across the State by all sections of people for the past several years.
Attempts to open the Ratna Bhandar at the Sri Jagannath Temple had failed in 2018 as the key to the innder chamber was reportedly missing.
During the hearing, the amicus curiae N K Mohanty submitted a report to the HC stating that the Archaeological Survey of India is carrying out repairs of the Jagamohan (assembly hall) and Nata Mandap (song and dance hall) of the temple and the work will be over by March 31, 2023.
The report also mentioned that the ASI is currently removing sand from the Konark temple and a final report in this connection will be submitted to the court once the work was over.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)