The Realm of the Sacred: Verbal Symbolism and Ritual Structures

by Sitakant Mahapatra (Editor)

In every age of recorded history, people have tried to categorize the world into the natural and supernatural. The latter, the Realm of the Unknown, is often looked upon as a sacred area with its own laws of operation and its presiding deities. This realm has a relationship of immense
complexity with the human world and the objective reality surrounding it. Together, the essays in this collection reflect the experience of wide and geographically distinct from Thailand to India, Eastern Slavia, and Causcasus.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published March 25, 1993

About the author

Sitakant Mahapatra (born 17 September 1937) is a notable Indian poet and literary critic in Odia as well as English. He has also been in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) since 1961 until retiring in 1995, and has since held ex officio posts such as the Chairman of National Book Trust, New Delhi.

He has published over 15 poetry collection, 5 essay collections, a travelogue, over 30 contemplative works, apart from numerous translations. His poetry collection have been published in several Indian languages. His notable works are, Sabdar Akash (1971) (The Sky of Words), Samudra (1977) and Anek Sharat (1981).
He was awarded the 1974 Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia for his poetry collection, Sabdar Akash (The Sky of Words). He was awarded the Jnanpith Award in 1993 "for outstanding contribution to Indian literature" and in its citation the Bharatiya Jnanpith noted, "Deeply steeped in western literature his pen has the rare rapturous fragrance of native soil"; he was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011 for literature apart from winning the Soviet Land Nehru Award, Kabeer Samman and several other prestigious awards.

Courtesy: wikipedia