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The treasury of Lord Jagannath Temple is known as 'Ratna Bhandar', where the gold, jewelleries, most precious gems, diamonds and other valuables have been preserved. This treasury of the temple has been enriched by the contribution of the devotees from all over the world, among whom the Hindu kings of Odisha were the most illustrious donors. According to Madala Panji, King Anangabhima Deva, in addition to his numerous grants of land, had donated 2,50,000 marhas (weight during medieval Orissa: 1 marha = half tola = 5.8319 grams) of gold for preparing the ornaments of the Deities.
The Suryavansi rulers who succeeded the Gangas on the throne of Odisha were great devotees of Lord Jagannath and enriched the Ratna Bhandar with their liberal gifts of gold and other jewels. One of the inscriptions of Gajapati Kapilendra Deva discovered on the wall of the temple of Jagannath, records that in the 41st Anka (1466 A.D) he came to worship Lord Jagannath and gave a number of utensils and ornaments. According to the rules and practices of the Temple, whatever jewels and gold are offered to the deities by the pilgrims are to be stored in Ratna Bhandar. The fabulous riches of the temple of Jagannath had induced the Muslim invaders to raid and plunder the temple from time to time, the worst being that of Kalapahad in 1668. In spite of several raids and plunder, the Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath still remains a valuable asset of the temple.
The total list of the valuable jewels of Lord Jagannath which includes gold ornaments, pearls, diamonds, corals etc., is to be found in the Record of Rights (RoR) prepared under Puri Sri Jagannath Temple Act., 1952.
There are 150 items of gold ornaments in Bahara Bhandar (outer treasury) which include
The Bhitara Bhandar (inner treasury) has 180 items of Jewellery which include 74 items of pure gold ornaments some of which weigh more than 100 tolas, plates of gold, pearls, diamonds, corals etc., and 146 items of silver articles, some weighing more than 500 tolas each.
The Ratna Bhandar of the temple consists of seven rooms. Currently, three rooms out of seven are being used for various rituals of deities. The jewelleries and valuables, which are used during Suna Besha of Lord Jagannath, are stored in these three rooms.
Earlier, the Ratna Bhandar was opened in 1964 and 1984. Reports said that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had faced adverse situation during opening of doors of Ratna Bhandar in the year 1984. After opening two doors, they ASI officials came to hear frightening sound of poisonous snakes from inside the treasury. Finally, the ASI decided not to open the doors out of scare.
There is restriction to access the jewelleries and valuables at Ratna Bhandar. Only three persons are entitled to have the key of the treasury. While one key is with Puri Gajapati (King of Puri), other two keys are with Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and Bhandar Mekap (official) respectively. The Bhandar can only be opened after notice of the SJTA for a particular ritual of the deities. The jewelleries and ornaments are brought from the store and kept inside in presence of the representatives of Puri Gajapati and SJTA.
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