According to a top official, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered the removal of his father Biju Patnaik’s’samadhi’ at Swargadwar in Puri in 2019 to make room at the crematorium and assist a beautification push in the pilgrim town.
V K Pandian, Patnaik’s private secretary, who has worked with the chief minister for more than 13 years, made this statement on Tuesday while speaking to the Odia Diaspora in Dubai.
“Now, instead of a memorial, a plaque mentioning Biju babu’s name is there at Swargadwar,” he said.
Many Hindus wish to cremate their loved ones in Swargadwar because they think that doing so would bring about salvation.
After Biju Patnaik’s death on April 17, 1997, the local civic organization in Swargadwar built a monument in his honor. The “Samadhi” took up a significant portion of the crematorium.
According to Pandian, he demonstrated the chief minister the crematorium’s beautifying proposal.
The chief minister made the decision to demolish the monument when he saw that it was still blocking a portion of the property. The same view was also held by other Patnaik family members.
Pandian remarked, “Patnaik claimed his father lives in people’s hearts and not in stone.
The state’s first transformation initiative was Puri’s Swargadwar.
To prevent a public uproar, the chief minister had ordered the memorial’s demolition early in the morning, according to Pandian.