Decode Politics: As Narendra Modi targets Naveen govt, what is the case of missing keys of Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar?

For 6 yrs now, keys to the inner chamber of the temple's Ratna Bhandar, or treasure trove, are officially missing. Probe reports on it have not been made public, a fact that BJP is using to attack ruling BJD

Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik addresses a public meeting at Kantabanji for the Lok Sabha elections, in Balangir district, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (PTI Photo)

As the BJP goes all out to improve its performance in Odisha, with repeated claims of winning enough seats to form the government in the state, one issue that top party leaders – from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma – keep bringing up is “safety” of the Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of the famed Puri Jagannath temple.

On Monday, Modi raised the issue at a public event in Puri. In an indirect dig at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s close aide and BJD’s key election strategist V K Pandian who is from Tamil Nadu, Modi claimed that people were saying that the keys of the Ratna Bhandar had been sent to the southern state.

What is Ratna Bhandar?

The precious ornaments of sibling deities Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, given by devotees and erstwhile kings over centuries, are stored in the Ratna Bhandar of the 12th-century shrine. It is located within the temple and has two chambers — Bhitar Bhandar (inner chamber) and Bahara Bhandar (outer chamber).

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The outer chamber is opened regularly to fetch ornaments for the deities during Suna Besha (golden attire), a key ritual during the annual Rath Yatra, and also during major festivals throughout the year. The inner chamber has not been opened in the past 38 years.

When was the Ratna Bhandar last opened?

According to official sources, the last inventory of the Ratna Bhandar was done between May 13 and July 23, 1978. Though it was opened again on July 14, 1985, the inventory was not updated.

According to a reply by former law minister Pratap Jena in the Assembly in April 2018, in 1978, the Ratna Bhandar had 12,831 bhari (one bhari equals 11.66gm) of gold ornaments fitted with precious stones and 22,153 bhari of silver utensils, among other precious items. There were other ornaments which could not be weighed during the inventory process.

Following a direction from the Orissa High Court, the state government attempted to open the chamber for physical inspection on April 4, 2018. The attempt was unsuccessful because the keys to the chamber could not be found. The ASI team, thus, carried out the inspection from outside.

What was the controversy that followed?

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As it emerged in a temple committee meeting on April 5, 2018, that there was no information regarding the keys of the Ratna Bhandar, a state-wide outrage followed. The Puri Collector is the official custodian of the key to the inner treasure.

Following the hue and cry, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a judicial inquiry into the matter on June 4, 2018. Days after the inquiry was ordered, the then Puri Collector said an envelope with “duplicate keys of inner Ratna Bhandar” written on it had been found in the record room of the Collectorate.

While the inquiry commission submitted a 324-page report to the Odisha government on November 29, 2018, on the issue, the details of the findings are yet to be made public.

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Amid continuing anger over the issue, the Jagannath temple managing committee in August last year recommended to the state government that the Ratna Bhandar be opened during the annual Rath Yatra of 2024.

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What has the BJP alleged, and how has the ruling BJD responded?

In July last year, former BJP president Samir Mohanty filed a PIL in the Orissa High Court over the issue. In its verdict pronounced in September, the court directed the government to form a high-level committee to supervise the inventory-making of the valuables.

The Odisha government in March constituted a 12-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Arijit Pasayat to supervise the inventory of Ratna Bhandar.

Addressing multiple rallies on May 11, Modi raised the issue of the missing keys of Ratna Bhandar and accused the BJD government of running away from the issue.

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On the Patnaik government’s claim that it had found a set of duplicate keys of the Ratna Bhandar, Modi questioned why the duplicate keys were made and if someone was opening the Ratna Bhandar with the duplicate key during the night. He asked if the precious jewels of the deities had been stolen using these duplicate keys and claimed the issue to be serious.

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While Modi has promised that if the BJP forms the government in Odisha, it will “restore the sanctity of Ratna Bhandar”, Amit Shah has said the probe report on Ratna Bhandar would be made public within six days of the party coming to power in the state. He has also promised to make the full inventory of the ornaments public.

Why could there be political ramifications of the issue?

Lord Jagannath is the most revered deity in Odisha, a state where Hindus make up nearly 90% of the population. People of the state are emotionally connected to Jagannath culture. There is anger among a section of the people, including among the servitors of the Puri shrine, over the missing keys and concern regarding the safety of the ornaments of the Lords.

The servitors have also been demanding early opening of the Ratna Bhandar and to conduct an inventory of the jewellery. Puri royal scion Dibyasingha Deb has called for opening of the Ratna Bhandar too.