The full name of Biju Patnaik was Bijayananda Patnaik. He was born in Cuttack, Odisha on March 5, 1916. His parents Laxmi Narayana Patnaik and Ashalata Ray belonged to Bhanjanagar in Ganjam. His father was a judicial servant, a great nationalist and a prominent leader of the Odia Movement respectively. He has close link with Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das and Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, the two architects of modern Odisha. Biju had started his school education in Mission Primary School at Cuttack.
Biju Patnaik flew many sorties on his Dakota DC-3 from Delhi Safdarjung Airport on 27 October 1947, after the first Dakota DC-3 flown by Wg. Cdr. KL Bhatia landed in Srinagar Airport early morning. He brought 17 soldiers of 1-Sikh regiment commanded by Lt. Col. Dewan Ranjit Rai. He flew low on the airstrip twice to ensure that no raiders were around. Instructions from Prime Minister Nehru’s office were clear: If the airport was taken over by the enemy, he was not to land. Taking a full circle the DC-3 flew ground level. Anxious eyeballs peered from inside the aircraft – only to find the airstrip empty. Nary a soul was in sight. The raiders were busy distributing the spoils of war amongst them in Baramulla.
Magazine Info
| Magazine name | Kimbadanti Jananayaka Biju Patnaik/କିମ୍ବଦନ୍ତୀ ଜନନାୟକ ବିଜୁ ପଟ୍ଟନାୟକ |
| Editor | Niranjan Pujari |
| No Of pages | 245 |
| Publisher | Pragati Utkal Sangha, Rourkela |
| Publication | NA |
| Printed At | NA |
| Distributor | NA |
