India, March 26 -- Goldsmiths, gemmologists, and servitors on Wednesday began the survey of gold, diamonds, and jewelled ornaments at Puri's 12th-century Shree Jagannath Temple Ratna Bhandar (treasury), the first such exercise in since 1978.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) administrator Arabinda Kumar Padhee said the exercise began at 12:09pm, considered an auspicious time. "3D mapping along with photography and videography is being carried out to prepare a comprehensive inventory," he said. He added that around 80% of the movable treasures in the Ratna Bhandar were counted during the first day's six-hour exercise.

A supervising and a handling team were constituted for the exercise as per the state government's Standard Ope...