President Ram Nath Kovind arrived in Patna Wednesday afternoon on his three-day visit during which he will grace the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly building on Thursday.

He was welcomed at the Jai Prakash Narayan Airport in Patna by Governor Phagu Chouhan, chief minister Nitish Kumar, Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, Bihar Legislative Council chairman Avadhesh Narayan Singh, deputy CMs Renu Devi and Tarkishore Prasad, leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and several other ministers.

He will stay at the Raj Bhawan and will leave on Friday.

On Thursday, the President will attend the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly building, which hosted the inaugural session of the joint Bihar and Orissa Provincial Council on February 7, 1921, and address the members of the Bihar Legislature. All the legislators, including former MLAs and members of Parliament, have been invited for the function.

Later in the day, Kovind will visit the sacred Takht Harmandir Sahib, the birth site of Guru Gobind Singh, and the revered Mahavir Mandir.

Kovind was the Governor of Bihar before getting elevated to the country’s top position in 2017.

The Bihar assembly building, which is an iconic structure designed by AN Millwood and was called the Council Chamber in the beginning, has been exquisitely decorated for the event.

The present-day legislature has its genesis in the December 12, 1911, decision of British emperor George V regarding the creation of a separate province combining Bihar and Orissa, with Patna as its headquarters, and it was notified on March 22, 1912. Later, an independent building and secretariat for the Provincial Legislative Council was built in 1920.

After reviewing the preparations with the high-level committee, Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha said the celebrations would be a memorable event. The President will also lay the foundation of “Shatabdi Stambh” (centenary column), to be built by the building construction department to showcase the history of Bihar, and plant a sapling of Bodhi tree.

Soon after being sworn in as the President, Kovind had visited the state to launch Bihar’s third phase of agriculture roadmap. Later, he also visited the state for the convocation ceremonies at Rajendra Agriculture University (Pusa) and NIT Patna and the international Dharma-Dhamma conference at Rajgir.

(With inputs from agencies)