Puri: The locks were broken to open the inner chamber of 'mysterious' Ratna Bhandar at the Jagannath Temple in Puri, informed Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee.

"As the locks were not opened with existing key brought from Puri Collectorate, we had to break those with a cutter," he told media after coming out of the temple following the opening of the treasury.

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Explaining about entire opening process, he said, "An 11-member team inspected the outside chamber of Ratna Bhandar and 12-member team inspected the inner chamber of the structure. All ornaments stored inside the outside chamber of Ratna Bhandar have been shifted to Changada Mekap room, a temporary strong room inside the temple. After we sealed the valuables stored in the outside chamber of Ratna Bhandar, the 12-member team advanced towards the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar. As per the SOP, three locks were broken in the presence of the magistrate as none of the locks were opened with the existing key. We inspected all the chests and almirah. As the Bahuda Jatra is scheduled tomorrow, it will take more time for shifting the containers to a temporary strong room."

Speaking to reporters on inventory, he said, "Structural safety of Srimandir is our topmost concern. We did not open the containers. We will fix a date at our next meeting for shifting all the valuables to the temporary strong room. After repair of the structure, the valuables will be again shifted to inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar where we will carry out the counting."

Justice Biswanath Rath, who heads the Ratna Bhandar monitoring committee informed that the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar was closed with new locks after opening.

"As per the SOP, we first opened the outside chamber and then we opened the inside chamber of Ratna Bhandar. We have sent the keys to treasury after sealing the door of inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar with new locks," he said.

Worth mentioning, the inner portion of Ratna Bhandar was opened after four decades. The last inventory was carried out in 1978.

A 15-member team entered the temple at 12 PM and before proceeding towards the Ratna Bhandar, the members offered prayer to Maa Bimala, Maa Lakshmi and Lord Loknath. The team entered the Ratna Bhandar at 1.28 PM. The operation lasted more than three hours.