The 26th death anniversary of visionary statesman and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik is being observed on April 17, 2023.

Here are some lesser-known facts about the ‘Kalinga Putra’:  - Biju Patnaik was born on March 5, 1916, in Cuttack, but his parents are from Bellaguntha, Ganjam. He went by Bijayananda Patnaik's name. He had Odia and Bengali ancestry. His father Lakshminarayan was an Odia, while his mother Ashalata Devi was a Bengali.

Biju Patnaik enjoyed playing bridge and watching sports. He was well-known at Ravenshaw Collegiate School for his enthusiasm for sports and exploration. He was a crucial member of his college football team's three-year inter-school champion squad.

- His passion for flying led him to leave Ravenshaw College and pursue pilot training. He was the commander of air transport command and had joined the Royal Air Force of the British Empire as a training pilot.

Biju Babu frequently rode his bicycle to the State Secretariat since he enjoyed riding it. He set out on an ambitious cycling trip in 1932 with his companions Amar and Bhramarbar, covering a distance of 4,500 miles from Cuttack, Odisha, to Peshawar, Pakistan, in an effort to spread the word about mankind.

- He wed Gyan, a Lahori Punjabi, in 1938. For the wedding, he flew the groom's party to Lahore. The name "Megawati," which means "goddess of clouds," was given to the child by the Indonesian President Sukarno and his wife.

- The legendary leader was a key figure in India's drive for independence and provided safety to rebels fleeing capture. 'Absconder's Paradise' was the name of his Delhi home. At one point, Aruna Asaf Ali sought refuge at the Ananda Bhawan in Cuttack.

- Biju Babu and his wife Gyan travelled to Java at the order of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and freed Sultan Sjahrir, the previous Indonesian prime minister, from the Dutch. On July 24, 1947, he flew Sultan Sjahrir to India through Singapore on a Dakota. Biju Patnaik received the highest Indonesian medal rarely granted to foreigners, the "Bhoomi Putra," for his bravery. When Indonesia celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence in 1996, Biju Patnaik received the highest honour, the "Bintang Jasa Utama."

- British authorities hailed Biju Patnaik for his deed of freeing some British families who had been held captive by the Japanese during World War II. However, the British imprisoned him for two years in 1943 for flying freedom fighters to covert locations. During World War II, he also assisted the Soviet Army in battling Hitler, and the Russians praised him for his contributions.

- Biju Patnaik served as chief minister for for seven years after winning election twice. When the Emergency was imposed in 1975, he was among the first opposition leaders to be taken into custody. In 1977, he was released.

- Biju Patnaik preferred a sudden illness to a fatal plane disaster. He once remarked, "I'd like to pass away right away. Just let myself go." However, he passed away in the Delhi house of the then-Union Minister Dilip Ray, not in Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneswar.

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