Early Temple Art and Antiquities of Odisha

Sasanka Sekhar Panda was born on 22nd March 1955 at Sambalpur city of Orissa State as the eldest child to parents Umashankar and Lokjanani, both celebrated literary figures of their times. He took up his school and college education at Sambalpur, topped the graduate examination with History Honours, conducted by the Sambalpur University and joined the University of Delhi to pursue his post-graduation and master of philosophy in History and Buddhist Studies respectively with specialisation in Ancient History, Culture, Religion and Civilisation of South Asia. After completing his studies he joined the Government of Orissa as an Assistant Land Settlement Officer in 1982 and served the Government in various capacities till his retirement in 2014 as the Director, Technical and Additional Secretary to Government in Information and Public Relations Department.

His tremendous drive for research took him to the University of Virginia, USA on strong recommendation of the internationally reputed Art Historian Professor Pramod Chandra of Harvard University in January 1996 and after two years of doctoral research on Art History of Early Temples and Sculptures of India he returned to his government job in January 1998. In spite of his busy official schedules he continued his passion for research and has so far published seventy one research articles in reputed journals. Besides this, he is also regarded as a well-established writer in English, Oriya and Sambalpuri-Koshli languages and literature. He has bagged many awards and felicitated by many literary and social organisations. He has been awarded with the most prestigious Du Pont Fellowship, USA. To his credits are twenty-two published books on English, Oriya and Sambalpuri-Koshli literature. His work “Sculptural Art of Upper Mahanadi Valley” has earned him much accolades and find a place in many libraries in India and abroad in USA, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Switzerland. After retirement he is deeply engaged in study and research on the Early History of Daksina Kosala.