Noted historian and former State Museum Superintendent Dr Harischandra Das passed away at his Tankapani residence here on Saturday. He was 82.
He was ailing for sometime after death of his younger son. His son Rabi Shankar Das, younger daughter-in-law Jyotsnarani Das, daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren were present at his death bed. Many noted persons, including painter Panchanan Samal of ‘Ekatra Baleswar’, social worker Goutambuddha Das, artistes Chintamani Biswal and Dr Haripada Satpathy, Prof Atul Chandra Pradhan, Dr Manoj Das, and Culture Secretary Manoranjan Panigrahi went to his residence and paid last respects to Das. later, the body was taken in a procession and cremated at the Swargadwar in Puri.
Harishchandra, born at Chandipur under Baleswar district’s Bhograi block in 1935, had done PhD in Anthropology in the year 1972 and joined as Anthropology Department head of the State Museum in the same year. He retired as Museum Superintendent in 1993.
He is credited as an author of as many as 18 valuable books, which include ‘Buddhist Art of Odisha’, ‘Jain Art in Odisha’, ‘Art and Crafts in Odisha’, ‘Cultural Heritage of Odisha’ and ‘Military History of Odisha’. He also compiled 20 culture-based books which includes ‘Tradition of Folk Theatre’, ‘Shree Jagannath in the Religion life of India’, and Folk Music and Dance’.