Orissa: National memorial for Madhusudan Das

Bhubaneswar, Apr 27: The house of the father-figure of Oriya movement and architect of modern Orissa, Madhusudan Das, will be soon converted into a national memorial.

The personal belongings of the reformer presently housed in a small room of the building, used as Sailabala Women's College, in memory of his adopted daughter, Sailabala Das, would be displayed in the memorials.

Orissa's Culture Minister, S N Patra, told reporters that the government had submitted a proposal to the Centre to convert the ancestral house of Das into a national memorial.

The government has proposed to spend about Rs 1.9 crore to make the house of Das the national memorial once the Sailabala Women's College is shifted to its new campus.

Mr Patra said on Madhusudan's 159th birth anniversary on April 28, the social reformer's personal belongings would be displayed for public view.

The entire building of the Sailabala Women's College would be later converted into the National Memorial as a tribute to the leader who had raised his voice on the merger of Oriya speaking tracts.

Mr Patra said the government had also submitted proposals to the Centre for setting up of memorials in memory of the great Oriya leaders and freedom fighters including a national museum in memory of Gopabandhu Das at Satyabadi, Biju Patnaik birth place and museum at Cuttack, Bagha Jatin memorial at Balasore, Vyasa Kabi Fakirmohan Senapati, Harekrushna Mahatab memorial museum in Bhubaneswar and a memorial for the freedom fighters of Orissa.

UNI