- There is a strong demand to open the gem depository of this temple and examine the treasures inside but the temple management committee is refusing to open the depository.

- For the past five years, flimsy excuses have been being made on the issue of opening the Jagannath Puri temple treasury. The repository was closed for years but in 2016, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) requested the state government to open the repository. The key of the repository remains with the Collector of Puri. There is a provision that the collector can open the warehouse only after the order of the state government. As the state government refused to listen to the ASI's request, he had to go to the High Court. The High Court ordered the Collector to open the repository in 2018. The collector did not open the vault and advanced the strange excuse that the key to the vault was not available.

The major Hindu temples in India have been in controversy from time to time due to their wealth worth billions. A few years ago the Padmanabhaswamy Temple was embroiled in a similar controversy and now the world famous Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha is embroiled in controversies. There has been a strong demand to open the gem depository of this temple and examine the treasures inside but the matter has become doubtful as the temple management committee and the state government are refusing to open the depository.

The administration of the Jagannath temple is under the hands of the Odisha state government. Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has a government in Odisha. The key of the Ratna Bhandar is with the Collector of Puri District and the Collector has to take the permission of Odisha Government to open the Bhandar. For whatever reason, Naveen Patnaik's government is holding back on allowing the opening of the warehouse, so both the BJP and the Congress have jumped on the bandwagon.

Along with the Lok Sabha elections in Odisha in 2024, the Assembly elections are also going to be held. Navin Patnaik has been the chief minister of Odisha for 25 years. Both BJP and Congress do not know how to defeat and remove them. Both the BJP and the Congress have played up this issue, believing that they will get a big issue against the new government because of the Jagannath Puri Temple treasure.

BJP and Congress leaders approached the Temple Management Committee to open the treasury, so the committee sought permission from the state government to open the treasury. However, the state government is not showing eagerness to open the treasury earlier, so political accusations have also started on this issue. There are allegations that the BJD leaders looted the treasury and looted crores of God's property.

The reason these accusations are happening is because of the excuses being shown in opening the treasury. As the election is around the corner, this issue may be in the limelight now, but for the last five years, flimsy excuses have been being made on the issue of opening the Jagannath Puri temple treasury. The repository was closed for years but in 2016, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) requested the state government to open the repository.

The administration of the Jagannath temple is under the hands of the Odisha state government. Orissa existed at the time of independence. The state government of Orissa took over the administration of the temple by passing The Puri Jagannath Temple (Administration) Act in 1952. Based on that, three years later the Sri Jagannath Temple Act, 1955 was implemented and the management system was arranged. Under this system, the day-to-day administration of the temple and its properties are managed. The state government has formed a committee of sevaks for administration and made the Maharaja of Puri the temple's adhyasevak. Birkishore Deb was first Adyasevak and after his death in 1970, Dibyangsinh Deb, who became the Maharaja of Puri at the age of 17, is Adyasevak.

However, this committee is like an ornament because the real power rests with the state government. The key of the repository remains with the collector of Puri and there is a provision that the collector can open the repository only after the order of the state government. As the state government refused to listen to the ASI's request, he had to go to the High Court. The High Court ordered the collector to open the warehouse in 2018. The collector did not open the vault and advanced the strange excuse that the key to the vault was not available. The Collector officially told the High Court that I do not have any details of the key to the Puri Bhandar.

After such an absurd reply of the collector, the new government had to order an inquiry. After two weeks of investigation, the committee handed over the report to the government along with a cover on which was written Ray, the duplicate key of the inner vault. The new government did not publish the report given by the committee and did not open the vault with the help of duplicate keys. There was a lot of discussion about this issue for some time but then people forgot. Navin won again in 2018, so the opposition also kept silent on this issue and now the elections have come, so they have returned.

It is difficult to say whether the Naveen Patnaik government will open the Ratna Bhandar or put the matter on the back burner, but there is no doubt that the attitude of the government is questionable. The temple of Puri is world famous and it is not acceptable to not find the key to its treasure. When the Bhandar was opened in 1985, the current Adyasevak Dibyang Singh Deb was the Adyasevak. Naturally, they know the process and the details of who holds the key. The fact that the government did not bother to ask them also raises doubts. Seeing that the state government is not interested in opening the warehouse, there is something wrong with the dal.

Bharata's son Indradyum built the first Jagannath temple at Puri

The present Jagannath Puri temple was built by King Ananthyavarman Chodganga of the Ganga dynasty in the tenth century, but the temple existed centuries before that. According to mythology, the first Jagannath temple in Puri was built by King Indradyum, son of King Bharata and Sunanda, from whom the name Bharata was derived. Jagannath Puri temple is also mentioned in other Puranas including Skanda Purana, Brahma Purana and Mahabharata.

A tribal king named Vishwavasu worshiped Neelmadhav in a dense forest in great secrecy. When Indradyumna came to know about this, he sent a Brahmin named Vidyapati to the forest to search for the Nilamadhav temple, but Vidyapati could not find the temple. Vidyapati fought Tikadam and convinced Vishwavasu to marry his daughter Lalita Indradyumna. After their marriage, at the request of Vidyapati, Vishwavasu blindfolded his son-in-law Indradyumna and took him to the cave where he was worshiping Neelamadhav.

Vidyapati gave mustard seeds to Indradyumna. Indradyumna used to throw these seeds at some distance along the road. After a few days, on the basis of these mustard plants, Vidyapati reached the temple. When Vidyapati took Indradyumna to see the temple in Udder Desh i.e. Odisha, the idol of Neelmadhav disappeared. When Indradyum started his fast by announcing that he would not take food and water without having darshan, the sky said, Bhavatu Nam.

After this Akashavani, Indradyum built a magnificent temple of Lord Vishnu. Narada brought him an idol in the form of Narasimha but Indradyumna saw Jagannath in his dreams. Ordered to make idols from the divine tree by the sea, Indradyum installed idols of Lord Jagannath and five brothers Balarama and Subhadra.

140 kg of gold jewelery in the inner vault of the Puri temple

The Jagannath Puri temple houses the idols of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balarama and sister Subhadra. The ornaments of these idols, gold ornaments, gems, gold utensils of food and drink, etc. are kept in the Ratna Bhandar. Ratna Bhandar is also in two parts. One is an external repository and the other is an internal repository. In the outer part the Lord's clothes and general ornaments are kept. Every year during the Rath Yatra, the outer Bhandar is opened but the inner Bhandar remains closed.

The real treasure is in the storehouse within. As the temple of Puri has been a center of faith for centuries, kings and maharajas from all over the country have been gifting precious ornaments, so this treasure is very rich. Finally, in 1978, when this store was opened and checked, it was reported that 140 kg of gold was jewelry. The jewelery was studded with gems worth crores and other jewels of different price. Apart from this, there were 260 kg of silver utensils. It also had expensive gems. There were other small and large ornaments too. The inner reservoir was reopened in 1985 but was not weighed then. The coffers were closed again, all seeming to be laid out as before.