President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday dedicated to the people Biju Patnaik’s 90-year-old ancestral house Anand Bhawan here, which has been converted into a museum and learning centre by the State Government after the property was donated to the Government by the family three years ago.
On his maiden visit to the State as the head of the Republic for two days accompanied by his wife Savita Kovind, the President, after inaugurating the museum, hailed the decision of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his family for donating the double-storied, ten-room building over an area of 38,000 square feet to be converted into a museum.
“The museum will enable the visitors to know much more about the multi-faceted achievements of Biju Patnaik. It will introduce to the people a part of Indian history and freedom struggle,” the President said comparing it to the Anand Bhawan of Allahabad, the ancestral house of Jawaharlal Nehru.
“The strategies of freedom struggle were discussed here among the leaders and they were chalking out their plans of actions from these two Anand Bhawans,” Kovind said, adding that Bijubabu was also focusing on spreading “Anand” (happiness) for the people of Kalinga, the ancient name of Odisha.
Discussing about the visions of Bijubabu, he pointed out that the legendary leader was a champion of women empowerment. “He was among those eminent leaders who thought that until women are respected in this country, the nation cannot make progress,” Kovind said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said Bijubabu was a unique combination of courage and compassion and a combination of determination and dedication. “He was a great statesman, a great patriot and, above all, a great human being,” Patnaiks said, hoping that the Anand Bhawan Museum and learning Centre would facilitate the people of Odisha to come closer to the ideas of Bijubabu of realising human aspirations, the idea of Odia self-pride and the idea that he was much ahead of his time.
On his arrival in the city in the morning, the President and his wife first visited the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Birthplace Museum here at Odia Bazaar, where after garlanding the statue of the Netaji, he paid rich tributes to the legendary leader of the Indian National Army (INA) fame.