Lavatory turns into Naveen’s dream garden

Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik is known to be a gentleman and an intellectual. But his love for nature is little known to the outside world. Though Bhubaneswar has a number of well-maintained gardens, Naveen has taken extra care to turn a wasteland, used by locals as a common  lavatory, to a beautiful medicinal garden. Nearly 200 medicinal plants have been planted in the garden, named Ekamra Bana. 

The background of the garden is perfectly picturesque. It has been set up adjacent to Bindu Sagar pond near Lingaraj Temple. Lingaraj (Lord Shiva) is the presiding deity of Bhubaneswar. Bindu Sagar is also known as Ocean Drop Tank. It is believed that Bindu Sagar contains water from every holy stream, pool and tank in India  “Steps have been taken to blend spirituality, heritage and ayurveda in the garden,” said caretaker of the garden, Ashok Mishra, a forest department official. He said nearly 50 rare plants described in the book, The Garden of Life, written by Naveen Patnaik, have been planted in the garden.

The whole garden is divided into thee parts. One section depicts the life of Lord Shiva, another the life of Parvati (wife of Lord Shiva) and the third  depicts Lord Ganesha’s life. All the flowers and plants associated with the three deities have been planted in the garden. The myths associated with the deities have been finely depicted. The garden also depicts how Lord Shiva appeared in Bhubaneswar which is also known as Ekamra Bana or Ekamra Kanan.

Naveen visits the garden atleast twice a week without intimating any official. He always takes visiting ministers to the garden. Union ministers Sharad Pawar and Kapil Sibal, who visited the state recently, were taken on a tour of the park.