Imaging Odisha, an eclectic mix of scholarly articles with colourful illustrations, encompassing studies of history, religion, sculpture, architecture, art, music, dance, literature, language, theatre, cinema, festivals, culinary tradition and natural heritage, was inaugurated here on Thursday.
The book has been edited by German scholar Hermann Kulke while Dr Nivedita Mohanty, Prof G N Dash, Dr Dinanath Pathy, Prof JK Nayak, KK Mohapatra and Prasana Kumar Dash have co-edited it. Prafulla Publication has published the book.
Inaugurating the book, Prof Debiprasanna Patnaik said it needs more research to describe the history of the State and through Imaging Odisha, some of the eminent persons try to focus on it.
Nivedita Mohanty said Imaging Odisha is presenting the whole image of the State from prehistoric time to the present.
"As one goes through the contents of the magnificently edited book, one is struck by the fact that in a deeply moving and memorable sense, Odisha is India in all its rich plurality, its deep contradictions and anxieties, its visions and imaginations, its negotiations and cultural rooting. To know Odisha in its complexities and depths is almost to know India in a significant and uplifting way. I have not seen any other book on a State which reveals, explores and illuminates it in such depth and range by so many diverse hands and with such a variety of viewpoints," said eminent poet and culture critic Ashok Vajpeyi.
The objective of the book was to showcase and project Odisha culture, which is our soft power. It is rather sad that the art and culture of Odisha are not adequately presented or highlighted beyond the frontiers of the State and particularly at the national level.
It has culminated in two volumes with 472 pages each, with 1,400 photographs and including rare collections from Victoria and Albert Museum by PC Dhir, Ashis Dhir and Sanjib. With 27 foreign scholars and 65 authors, the book covers a wide range of articles from temples to festivals, sarees to culinary habits, hair styles in a temple of 8th century to colonial drawings of 18th century.