A view of Shree Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

“The Odisha government will unlock the ‘Ratna Bhandar’, the revered treasury of the 12th-century Jagannath temple in Puri, on July 14 after 46 years for an inventory of the valuables and the repair of the structure,” an official said. The treasury was last opened in 1978.

“The Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath temple will be opened today at 1.28 p.m.,” said Justice Biswanath Rath, the chairman of the committee formed by the State government to supervise the inventory of valuables in the treasury. “The decision was taken at a meeting of the committee held in Puri,” he said.

“Members of the committee, including Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Padhee, will visit the treasury after the reopening,” he added. “The place where the valuables will be kept temporarily has also been identified,” said the former Orissa High Court judge.

“The ritual of ‘Agnya’, in which approval is sought for the reopening of the Ratna Bhandar, was completed in the morning. The members of the committee will enter the shrine at 12 p.m. in traditional attire for the reopening,” said C.B.K. Mohanty, another member of the committee.

“Before reopening the treasury, we will seek the approval of Goddess Bimala, Goddess Laxmi, who is the owner of the treasury, and lastly seek the approval of Lord Lokanath, who is its caretaker,” Justice Rath said.

In the morning, Justice Rath and Mr. Padhee offered prayers before Lord Jagannath and his siblings at the Gundicha temple for the smooth completion of the works. “Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been made for the entire process,” Mr. Padhee said.

“Three SOPs have been made. One is related to the reopening of the Ratna Bhandar, the second for the management of the temporary Ratna Bhandar, and the third one is related to inventory of the valuables,” he said.

“The inventory work will not start today. It will be done after getting approval from the government on the engagement of valuers, goldsmiths and other experts,” he added.

“The government has decided to prepare a digital catalogue of the valuables in the Ratna Bhandar that will have details such as their weight and make,” another official said.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Superintendent DB Gadanayak said structural engineers, mechanical engineers and civil engineers will inspect the Ratna Bhandar for the repair work.

Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) personnel were seen entering the temple premises with lights that will be installed inside the Ratna Bhandar. It is also apprehended that there are snakes inside the treasury.

Snake Helpline member Subhendu Mallick said, “We have come here on the instruction of the State government. There will be two teams of snake catchers — one inside and another outside the temple. We will follow all instructions of the administration.”

New Delhi:

Another disputed temple-mosque site will come under the lens of the Archaeological Survey of India after Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque. This time, it is the Bhojshala at Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar, where it has to conduct a survey. The order came from the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court today following a petition by the right-wing group Hindu Front. This will be the fourth site to undergo excavation/survey after the ones in Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura.

“Get the survey done. Photos and videos should be made. The report should be given to the court before April 29, during the next hearing,” said a bench of Justices SA Dharmadhikari and Dev Narayan Mishra.

The ASI has been asked to use all the methods and state-of-the-art equipment at their disposal, including Ground Penetration Radar System and carbon dating to ascertain the age of the structure.

The petitioners have asked for the right to daily worship at the site if a survey shows the existence of a temple.

In its order, the court said the ASI must conduct a “complete scientific investigation, survey and excavation , through adoption of latest methods, techniques and modes of GPR-GPS survey of the site in question constituting the disputed Bhojshala Temple cum Kamal Maula Mosque complex”. This would include the entire 50m of peripheral ring area from the boundary of the complex.

A detailed scientific investigation also has to be conducted through carbon dating of various structures “both above and beneath the ground”. The ASI also has to open locked or sealed rooms, halls and prepare a complete inventory of each and every artifact, idol, deity, or any structure. But this should be done without “destroying, defacing, destructing the original nature of the whole complex”.

The survey should be conducted under the leadership of an expert Committee of at least five senior-most officials of ASI, headed by the Director General or the Additional Director General and the report submitted to the court within six weeks.

“Efforts should be made to have a representation of Officers of both the contesting communities (if available of the said position & rank) in the said Expert Committee,” the order read.

The bench said after it receives the report, it will hear the claim of petitioner for restoration of the right to daily worship. The court will also hear the matter of investigation into the Waqf of Kamal Maula Masjid.

The site at Dhar, where a temple complex dedicated to Goddess Saraswati exists, has long been a cause of friction. Currently, worship is allowed only on Vasant Panchami. The rest of the year, namaz is offered at the Kamal Maula Masjid.

The temple complex was part of a celebrated college built by king Bhoja (1000-1055 AD), said to be the greatest monarch of the Paramara dynasty.

The college came to be known as Bhojshala (banquet hall), where students came from across the country for a feast of knowledge. The structure was converted to a mosque during Muslim rule. The image of the Goddess Saraswati is now in a museum in London.

New Delhi:

A parliamentary panel has underlined that a large number of historical monuments are “not under any sort of protection” and asked about the procedure through which requests for restoration of “unprotected monuments” is made to the ASI.

It also asked how many such requests are pending before the central body.

The action taken report on recommendations or observations of the committee contained in its 340th Report on Demands for Grants (2023-24) of Ministry of Culture by the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, was presented in the Rajya Sabha and laid on the table of the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The panel has noted that under the head “Restoration of Unprotected Monuments – Minor Works”, the culture ministry has been allocated Rs 2.5 crore in the 2023-24 Budget Estimate against a projected demand of Rs 5 crore to meet anticipated expenditure for restoration of unprotected monuments such as Badrinath.

“It is submitted in this connection that ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) undertakes restoration of unprotected monuments, subject to the overall criticality/importance of the monument and as per manpower availability with ASI. The budget allocation of Rs 2.5 crore for restoration of unprotected monuments is considered sufficient in respect of presently ongoing work at Badrinath temple,” the ministry informed the panel.

The report said the committee wanted to know about the quantum of ongoing work at the Badrinath temple and the expected timeline of its completion. The panel would like to elicit the information regarding the expenditure made out of the total fund till date.

In its 294th Report on Development and Conservation of Museums and Archaeological sites – Challenges and Opportunities, the committee noted that in 2007, the National Mission on Monuments & Antiquities aimed to list 5,00,000 (five lakh) heritage buildings, it added.

“The committee notes that about 3,693 monuments fall under the protection of the central government while around 4,500 monuments are protected by the state/Union Territory governments. It is evident that a large number of valuable historical monuments are presently not under any sort of protection by the government,” the panel said in the report.

The ministry informed the panel that the “ASI evaluates the proposal following due procedures and accordingly undertakes conservation/preservation of other than ASI heritage buildings”.

The ASI was established in 1861 and currently operates through a number of circles across the country.

The panel further said it would like to “know the expenditure incurred by the Ministry on the restoration of unprotected monuments in the country by the ASI during the last three years, year-wise”.

“The committee further desires to know the procedure through which request for restoration of unprotected monuments is made to ASI, and how many such requests are pending before the ASI, at present,” it added.

In the report, the committee further said that it would like to “know the criteria governing the recognition of a monument that requires any kind of protection”.

The committee also wants to know “how categorisation of monuments is being effected for its protection at central/state level”.

On the panel’s observation that the Rs 5 crore sought by the ASI for the restoration of unprotected monuments is in itself a “minor amount given the huge number of such monuments”, the ministry has said, “As stated in the preceding ATN, ASI undertakes restoration of unprotected monuments subject to the overall criticality/importance of the monument and as per manpower availability with the ASI. Although the current allocation is considered to be sufficient, additional budget requirements as and when the need arises will be demanded from the Ministry of Culture.” 

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