Bhubaneswar, March 21 -- The Jagannath Temple in Puri will, from Wednesday, see more than a dozen experts, including goldsmiths, gemmologists, temple servitors and committee members, verify its vast trove of gold, diamonds and jewelled ornaments in a court-mandated audit being conducted for the first time in over four decades.

The 12th-century temple's Ratna Bhandar (treasury) will be opened at an auspicious hour (between 12:09 pm and 1:25 pm) on March 25, officials who will supervise the inventorisation exercise said on Saturday. The Orissa High Court has ordered the exercise to be completed within three months.

Retired Orissa High Court judge Biswanath Rath, who heads the temple's inventorisation committee, said the 2026 exercise will...