He remembers the darkness of the pine forest, and the footprints, and his terror when the creature began to howl. He remembers the stories of his childhood, of a beast that stalked the upper reaches of the mountains, and how fear spread through the village every time it was spotted.

The Ganapati Cult occupies a significant position in the Brahmanical religion of Orissa. The discovery of Ganesh images from different parts of Orissa highlights the popularity of Ganesh, the remover of all obstacles and bestower of success. His elephant head suggests a cool brain and his mount rat suggests perseverance.

The Head of Glory or kirtimukha, Roaring Lion or jagrata, and the Flying vidyadhara are profusely carved on the temple walls of the upper Mahanadi valley from the 9th century onwards, but the earliest of these motifs are found amidst the temple ruins at Mohangiri in the Kalahandi and Banei in Sundergarh districts.

One of the earliest iconographic descriptions of Lord Brahma is found in Brhatsamhita, in which he has been described as a four-faced god holding a ritual water-vessel kamandalu in one of his hands (Brahma kamandalukaras'-caturmukhah).

Thousands of tourists visit the famed Sun temple at Konark in Orissa and go back impressed with the grandeur and craftsmanship of earlier days. But very few seem to know that another Sun temple exists at Buguda in Ganjam district of the State. This is made entirely of wood and the designs and imagery enthrall the viewer. This is referred to as the Wooden Konark.

Mathas in Puri are storehouses of archaeological remains. These representations can be broadly divided into two categories such as (i) images of enshrined deities and deified preceptors and (ii) decorative motifs on matha temples and residential structures. All these, of course, cannot be dated along with the inception or establishment of the monasteries as stone-works that have been added from time to time.

The patuas of Medinipur have for many generations painted scrolls designed to be unrolled while the story accompanying the pictures is sung. The patas are sheets of paper of equal or different sizes sewn together and painted.

The civilizational interface in this region marks its presence in concrete terms probably between 4th and 6th century A.D. as revealed by archaeological finds such as the Dah Parbatia edifice of Gupta style on the north bank of the middle Brahmaputra valley Some of the Assamese scholars are, however inclined to take back the period of Sanskritization to the pre-Christian era on the basis of finds at Surya Pahar in Goalpara district in the lower Brahmaputra valley.

Many wonderful stories exist about the origin of the Bhagavata Mela Natakam of Andhra Pradesh. In the 14th century, the southern parts of India were ruled by a succession of dynasties committed to the propagation of art and literature. The rulers not only gave land and money to gurus and performers, but also paid for the upkeep of several hundred temple dancers, the rajanartakis and devadasis.

Gita-govinda is a work of lyrical poetry written in Sanskrit. It has twelve chapters (sarga), which are further subdivided into twenty-four Prabandhas. Each Prabandha contains two further divisions, usually comprising eight couplets, called Ashtapadis - poems with eight stanzas. The Ashtapadis are preceded by verses composed in a different meter, which describe the backdrop of the subsequent Ashtapadi.

The Natyachudamani of Somanarya is an unpublished musicological work originally written in Sanskrit and accompanied by a Telugu commentary. The author of this work is Ashtavadana Somanarya (Ashtavadana means one who can concentrate on or give attention to eight things at a time), said to be a student of Sitarama. The author is also referred to as Somanatha in the work.

Inspired by the success of a tiny village in Orissa becoming a full-fledged model arts village, the Ministry of Tourism has selected five villages for reviving the gurukula tradition for teaching of arts. What started as promotion of pattachitra (painting on palm leaf) in Raghurajpur village in Puri district as part of rural tourism project five years ago culminated into transformation of the village into a vibrant centre of folk art.

The Ajanta caves, listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, is one of the most known and aesthetically acclaimed heritages of India, standing witness to the achievements of the ancient Indian artist, the silpin. This uniquely preserved evidence of what must have been a prevalent aesthetic tradition continent-wide brings forth the fact that sculpture, painting and architecture were not separate categories in ancient India.

A manuscript of Gita Govinda, scribed on ivory, has recently been declared as a National Heritage of India. Many, predictably, are curious to know the greatness of Gita Govinda that has elevated a copy of its manuscript to such high status. For a fair idea about the form and content of this literary creation, a brief account is presented here.

Over the last two years, the Sun has run numerous articles about the plight of the widows in Vrindavan Dhama. In August 2005, the issue gathered steam with the release of a film entitled Shwet - White Rainbow, which was nationally released in India. The movie exposed the horrible treatment dealt to widows in India.

Terracotta Art is the earliest form of art in which the Bengal artists excelled. The art products in terracotta or burnt clay satisfied the creative impulse of the artists and also met the domestic and ritual needs of ordinary man. Clay objects were either baked in the sun or burnt into terracotta for hardening and durability and were used by man in his daily life since pre-historic times.

Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, is surely one of the world's most amazing cities, being endowed with a very large number of ancient monuments, historic temples and other interesting spiritual sights. Here, the presence of Buddhist and Hindu deities are found side by side, and devotees have a rare opportunity to view Vaisnavism in a predominantly Buddhist milieu.

Surina Devi, a matronly 70-year-old in a brown crepe sari, had a so-so life, she says, until her shopkeeper husband died four years ago. For reasons she is unable or loath to explain, the former housewife from a rural village near Patna, in Bihar, was left with “nothing, nothing.

Orissa was famous as Kalinga, Kosala, Odra and Utkala during ancient days. All these independent regions came under one administrative control which was known as Utkala and subsequently Orissa. The name of Utkala has been mentioned in Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas, and the existence of Utkala as a kingdom is found in Kalidas's Raghuvamsa.