No treasure trove found in Emar mutt

Bhubaneswar: The

Puri

district administration’s hope of stumbling upon a treasure buried inside

Emar mutt

, facing the Jagannath Temple, came a cropper as the authorities could not trace any hidden hoard during an excavation on Friday. Discovery of huge quantities of silver ingots hidden under the grounds of the mutt twice in the past — first in 2011 and second in 2021 — prompted the administration to go for the fresh hunt.In September last year, metal detectors were used to find out if any treasures were lying buried in the mutt. Beep sounds were heard at three locations, which were then marked with red ink. “After obtaining permission from the state endowment commissioner, we dug up those places on Friday. But we did not come across any valuable metal or material. Only a few iron rods and nails were found at those places,” Puri sub-collector

Bhabataran Sahoo

told TOI.The officer said the entire excavation process was video-graphed in the presence of the mutt’s trust board representatives and officials of the district administration.Altogether 522 pieces of silver ingots, each weighing between 35 kg and 40 kg, worth around Rs 90 crore were found in hidden chambers of the mutt in February 2011. In April last year, 45 more silver ingots weighing about 35 kg each, besides a silver tree and silver flowers, about 16 antique swords, and a bronze cow sculpture were also recovered from the mutt, which was established by

Ramanujacharya

in 1050 when he came to Puri.