The Phallus and The Fire

This is the first book published in India on theatre anthropology.  The book surveys the mode of performance and rituals of Danda Nata, a shamanistic theatre form of Odisha that originated in the 10th century B.C. on the basin of river Suktimati.  The study is multi-disciplinary and it touches the tangents of Saivite metaphysics, Nathism, Buddhism and Jainism alongwith archetypal psychology, symbolic ritology and postmodern performative elements of theatre discernible in this primitive theatre form.

Ramesh P. Panigrahi (b. 1944) is the author of 44 published plays in Odia and in English with a Sahitya Akademi award for 1984 and Sangit Natak Akademi award for 2001.  He is one of the top ranking popular playwrights with best sellers that run into multiple editions.  Panigrahi is acclaimed as a fast selling, ingenious and inventive playwright, who has also published two novels and translated many short stories into English.  Dr. Panigrahi has published books on existential psychology, post modern performance studies and interpretation of classical literature besides writing and editing books on painting and culture.