Orissa High Court Directs State Govt to Appoint Chairperson of Srimandir Ratna Bhandar Committee

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court directed the Odisha government to appoint the chairman of the committee for the Ratna Bhandar Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri within four weeks.

According to the High Court, the Ratna Bhandar Committee has to be chaired by a retired judge either of the High Court or of the Supreme Court.

The committee will decide upon the reopening, inventorisation and counting of the jewellery of the Ratna Bhandar.

The high court on Friday asked the Odisha government to constitute a high-level committee to supervise works relating to the preparation of an inventory within two months.

Once the chairperson of the committee is appointed, the committee will be formed thereafter. To reopen the Ratna Bhandar, the administration needs to constitute a committee comprising servitors, temple officials and members of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).

For the last few months, the demand for the opening of the Ratna Bhandar of Srimandir is increasing. The last time the inventory of ornaments of this Ratna Bhandar was made in 1978.