Puri: The lock of the Jagannath Temple Ratna Bhandar will be broken if the door will not be opened with the existing key, informed Justice Biswanath Rath here today.

An SOP will be prepared for the opening of Ratna Bhandar if it is unlocked, he stated after chairing a meeting of the panel formed for Ratna Bhandar inventory.

The final call will be taken at the next meeting scheduled on July 9.

"The opening of Ratna Bhandar is a service, which is carried out by the grace of Lord Jagannath. It might be the Lord's will that the procedures for inventory of valuables inside Ratna Bhandar could not be executed by the previous government. The new government has formed a new committee for the inventory," said Janardhan Pattajoshi Mohapatra, the Ratna Bhandar Nayak.

According to reports, all valuables belonging to Lord Jagannath will be shifted to a place for a temporary period for inventory after opening of Ratna Bhandar.

"There are some places inside the temple where the ornaments can be kept safely. This will be finalised at the meeting on July 9," the senior servitor said.

On safety of the valuables, he said, "The Ratna Bhandar was opened many times in the past. However, it was halted in recent past years due to some reasons. All the valuables have been stored inside sealed containers. It is believed that Lord Loknath is in charge of the Ratna Bhandar. Therefore, the valuables are expected to be safe."

Worth mentioning that the state government has constituted a 16-mmeber panel for inventory of ornaments and precious items stored inside Ratha Bhandar at the centuries old Jagannath Temple in Puri after dissolving a 12-member committee formed by the previous BJD government.