Puri: There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the opening of the Ratna Bhandar of Lord Jagannath since almost two weeks. It is worth mentioning that the Ratna Bhandar was last opened in 1978.
Reports say that, a six-member committee had counted all the jewels in the outer, inner and movable treasury of the Lord and his siblings. Counting and valuation in Ratna Bhandar continued for about 70 days, that is from from May 13 to July 23. A list of ornaments in Ratna Bhandar was made back then.
Further, the comprehensive record of the count is in the office of the museum of the Jagannath Temple in Puri. According to the information available, there are 376 types of gold ornaments in the inner treasury. The weight of this ornaments is about 4,364 grams.
Similarly, it contains 231 types of silver ornaments, which weigh 14,878 grams. The outer Ratna Bhandar contains 79 types of gold ornaments, which weigh about 8,175 grams. While it contains 39 types of silver ornaments, its weight is about 4,671 bharis.
On the other hand, there are eight types of gold ornaments, which weigh 299 bharis, and 23 types of silver ornaments, which weigh about 2603 bharis, according to the last list of ornaments in Ratna Bhandar.
While no official announcement has been made in this regard, discussions have been rife about the opening of Ratna Bhandar due to the visit of former Justice Arijit Pasayat to Puri on July 5.ax