The 11th Century religious institution, Emar Mutt in Odisha’s Puri city which had yielded treasures in large quantities in the past, was excavated again.

On February 25, 2011, from the Mutt located in the south eastern corner of the Shree Jagannath Temple, 522 silver ingots weighing more than 18 tonnes and valued at Rs 90 crore were recovered. Following this in the second phase of the search, on April 10 in the same year, 45 silver ingots weighing about 35 kg each were recovered.

Besides the silver ingots, some valuable objects like a silver tree, flower, bouquet, silver utensils and ornaments were also found inside the mutt after its possession was taken by the Commissioner of Endowment in April 2021. Also a pair of cow and calf made of bronze and 16 ancient swords was also recovered from the mutt.

Contrary to expectations, nothing was found this time during the excavations.

Excavation was video-graphed and carried out at three places in the Mutt premises marked by metal detectors that were used last year in September following a request from the Trust Board.

The digging was started in the entry path of the mutt in the presence of Sub-Collector Bhabataran Sahoo, the mutt trust board members and district administration officials.

 Talking to media, Sahu had informed that three places in the front portion of the mutt were identified for digging up and that if traces of any item were found, the digging will go deeper.

The Sub-Collector told TOI that the digging was done after obtaining permission from the State Endowment Commissioner. “We did not come across any valuable metal or material. Only a few iron rods and nails were found at those places.”

It is believed that the Mutt which was established by Sri Ramanujacharya in 1050 when he came to Puri has several assets and other articles received as donations buried inside the premises.