April 4, is the date that the Odisha government had fixed to open the Ratna Bhandar of Lord Jagannath, Puri. And the most talked -about event associated with Jagannath temple underwent as per per-determined schedule.
Sixteen of the authorized team of 17 members entered the Ratna Bhandar at five minutes to half past two for the inspection work following a stringent Standard Operation Procedure (SOP).
They came out of the temple after conducting an exercise of 45 minutes to revel that there were cracks on the wall and roof. “The walls were damp.”
Sri Jagannath Temple Authority Chief Administer Pradeep Kumar Jena who was part of the team said, “The team members entered the outer Ratna Bhandar at about 2.25 PM. The door was opened in the presence of the representative of Puri Gajapati Maharaj, Ratna Bhandar Mekap and the ritual administrator. they found dirt there in the Bhandar and they themselves broomed the dirts.” As he added that they team did not feel the need to enter the inner Bhandar since with the high power search light inspection of the inner Bhandar was quite possible.
The wall and roof of the Bhandar were damp, said Mr Jena, “The ASI is preparing the prelimionary report of their inspection. we will go through it and the detailed report will be submitted before the High Court on the 5th.”
The temple Administration had made a full proof arrangement to ensure that the execution of the Bhandar Opening event goes without confronting with the religious sentiments of the people and to avoid any untoward incident during the operation.
The seventeen member team was finalised after revising the earlier team of 10 with authority to enter into the Ratna Bhandar to assess the condition of the structure after the High Court of Odisha endorsed an appeal in this regard.
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