Odisha CM urged to preserve Assamese litterateur Bezbaroa's residence in Sambalpur

Bhubaneswar/Sambalpur: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been urged to preserve Assamese litterateur Lakshminath Bezbaroa's heritage residence in Sambalpur.

In a letter to Patnaik on Friday, Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal requested his counterpart not to demolish Bezbaroa's residence.

Sonowal also talked to Patnaik over phone and sought his intervention for taking a proactive step for the preservation of the residence which is intrinsically associated with the emotions of the people of Assam.

Responding to Sonowal's request, the BJD supremo has assured Sonowal to do the needful for the protection and preservation of Bezbaroa's residence in the city.

Meanwhile, Assam's Minister of Cultural Affairs, Naba Kumar Doley and his media adviser Hrishikesh Goswami will meet and handover a letter written by Sonwal to Patnaik today.

The duo will also meet the District Collector of Sambalpur and other organisations to push forward Assam government's efforts of preserving Bezbaroa's residence.

Also Read: BJD distances itself from Rout’s remark; BJP demands minister’s resignation

Besides, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) has sent a letter to Naveen Patnaik demanding preservation instead of demolition of the historical house. They also demanded to turn it into a museum.

Bezbaroa had stayed in Sambalpur over a decade and lived in the house near Kacheri but now the house is presently in a dilapidated condition.

Born in 1864, Bezbaroa was a celebrated pioneer of modern Assamese literature and one of the literary stalwarts of the Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism in Assamese literature.

Popularly known as 'Rasharaaj' or the king of humour, his works have the influence of Odia culture.