Rock Art in Orissa

by Sadasiba Pradhan

The book Rock Art in Orissa for the first time presents an exhaustive account of the rock art heritage in Orissa documented from 55 rock shelters by the explorer himself. It brings to limelight a distinct regional style in the rock art heritage of India.

One notices a happy blending of engravings (petroglyphy) with paintings (pictographs), both being complementary to each other, drawn in non-thematic and non-figurative pictorial codes - a rare phenomenon not encountered so far from anywhere in India.

The author has taken due care to draw conclusion with the help of archaeological and ethnographical evidences drawn from the rock shelters and the surrounding areas. The book would interest not only the students and researchers in field of rock art but will also be useful to scholars in art history and archaeology.

Contents:

1. Preface.
2. I. Introduction:
   1. Global distribution of rock art
   2. Rock art research in India
   3. Rock art in India.
3. II. Orissa: the land and the people:
   1. River system
   2. Rainfall and climate
   3. Population.
4. III. Orissa: a cultural profile:
   1. Prehistoric and proto-historic periods
   2. Historic period.
5. IV. Rock art in Orissa:
   1. A survey of rock art sites in Orissa
   2. Paintings
   3. Engravings
   4. Archaeological evidences
   5. Grinding and pounding holes
   6. Antiquity and chronology.
6. V. Ethnoarchaeology of rock art:
   1. Saura paintings
   2. Juang art
7. VI. Conclusion
8. References
9. Index.

About the Author:

Dr. Sadasiba Pradhan (b. 16th May, 1955), presently a senior Reader in the Post-Graduate Department of History, Sambalpur University, Orissa had his professional training in archaeology in the Institute of Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi and in the Institute of Archaeology, University College of London, UK. A brilliant scholar with varied academic interests that are reflected in the M. Phil and Ph.D dissertations he has guided.

Dr. Pradhan has authored Agrarian and Political Movements in the State of Orissa (New Delhi 1986); Archaeological Sites of South Kosala (Sambalpur 1989); Orissan History, Culture and Archaeology (ed.) (New Delhi 1999) besides more than thirty research papers. Presently he is working on a UGC sponsored major research project entitled 'Art and Archaeology of the painted rock shelters in Orissa'.