BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday laid the foundation stone of Odisha Bhavan in Chennai. Addressing a function to mark the occasion, the Chief Minister said the Odisha Bhavan, once completed, will fulfil a long-felt desire of the Odia community in Tamil Nadu. Considering the number of visitors from Odisha to Tamil Nadu for health-related needs, students and tourists, the Bhavan will of great help. Naveen thanked Jayalalithaa for giving the Odisha Government land for construction of the Bhavan. When late Biju Patnaik was the chief minister of Odisha for the second time in the early nineties, he visited Chennai a number times, Naveen said. “I remember him speaking of Jayalalithaa as an able and excellent administrator. I am sure all the people living in your state will endorse the view of my late father,” he said. Stating that Odisha and Tamil Nadu represent glorious traditions, the Chief Minister said in the past both were known for their Kalinga and Chola navigators respectively who launched voyages to southern seas. They took both trade and culture to distant lands and islands, he said. The two civilisations have dance forms that reverberate across the globe, Naveen added. Referring to Naveen as her ‘brother’, Jayalalithaa said several welfare schemes, implemented in both states, showed that “our two governments think alike and we think alike”. Jayalalithaa, who attended the stone-laying function as the chief guest, felicitated two eminent Odia artists Sudarshan Patnaik and Kumkum Mohanty.
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