Music has been an integral part of human life since early times. In Odisha, the earliest evidence of music and musical instruments associated with Jainism can be found at Khandagiri and Udayagiri hills both in epigraphical records and sculptural panels. This includes the Hathi-Gumpha inscription of Kharavela and the panels in Rani-Gumpha, Manchapuri-Gumpha, and Totowa-Gumpha 2, dating back to the 1st or 2nd century BCE. The sculptural reliefs featuring musical instruments reflect the refined and cultured social life of ancient Kalinga under the patronage of Kharavela. By the 10th and 11th centuries CE, musical instruments, particularly cymbals and drums, became integral to the depiction of Jain sculptures in Odisha and were considered one of the components of the asta-pratiharyas. Musical instruments are also sometimes depicted in association with attendant deities and related sculptures. Four categories of musical instruments—Tata (stringed), Susira (wind), Anavaddha (percussion), and Ghana (solid instruments) are represented in the Jain art and iconography of Odisha. Thus, the contribution of Jain art and iconography in Odisha to the development of musical traditions is significant and dates back to ancient times.

Stable Carbon and Oxygen isotope analysis was carried out on the proboscidean tooth enamel samples from the collection available at Deccan College Post-Graduation and Research Institute, Pune as part of doctoral studies. The collection comprises of various specimens of the Proboscidean community discovered from various fossil localities in the Siwaliks, Central Narmada Valley and the Manjra river valley. The specimens cover the periods from late Pliocene to upper Pleistocene. It was found that the carbon and oxygen data point towards a distinctive diet of the proboscideans in three different ages: The Miocene, The Pliocene and The Pleistocene. According to this the proboscideans of the Miocene were all browsers feeding on C3 plants, after the grassland spread and vegetation turnover of the Mid Miocene a diet change is also seen in the proboscides i.e., they begin to incorporate C4 plants in their diets and adapt to an intermediate or mixed feeding behavior. The Proboscideans of the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene were pure grazers feeding on exclusively C4 plants. Furthermore the Proboscideans of the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene were pure grazers feeding on exclusively C4 plants. This switch even brought a morphological change in the dentition of the proboscideans as they developed thinner enamels, higher hypsodonty and more plates to digest the tough silica rich grasses. By mid-Pleistocene the climate and seasonal cycle has stabilized and the proboscideans finding abundance of C3 plants or possibly competing with other grazers started to switch their diets again to C3 browsing. This diet shift is used extensively to build on past environment and vegetation patterns as well.

Keywords: Isotopes, Proboscideans, Narmada, Siwaliks, Palaeoenvironment

There are both good and bad energies in the world. To protect the righteous from the evil energies, deities take various forms. Dreadful deities like Bhairava or Kali send chills down the spines of the evil but bless the virtuous. A multitude of images of such grotesque and fearsome divinities sprang up during medieval era. There are multiple reasons for the practice of left-handed kind of worship of these deities by conducting esoteric rituals. One of the reasons was the constant struggle for power and resources as the warlike kingdoms of medieval India were engaged in. Not only royalty but different strata of society were more or less indulged in the achievement of occult powers or siddhis. The assimilation of tribal form of worship with the main stream might be another reason. Due to these and various other reasons myriad of such images were created and at present can be seen in the temples and museums alike. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya also has fair share of images of dreadful divinities rendered with exotic aesthetical taste and are fine examples of regional variation. Amongst them are some remarkable icons of deities like Bhairava, Kshetrapala, Chamunda, Varahi, Yogini. Some of them are discussed here in detail.

With the advent of Hinduism, the devotional singing like NataSankirtana was introduced in Manipur.a sloka from the fourth sakandh of Srimad Bhagavad Mahapuran describes that Sankhya, Tarya, Mridanga, Dunduvi etc. are used for devotional purposes. Drum beats, songs and dance presented before the gods have been known as Gandhvarma from the Vedic period onwards.Therefore, Sankirtanais a perfect representation of Vedic culture and it has been used differently in many stages of religious transformations. Despite some differences, most of the religious occasions related to the four Vedas such as, Rig, Sam, Yajur and Athrarvan were associated with Sankirtana. In this continuous process, Sankirtana became more influential as the so-called devotional movement flourished with in India Bhagavad religi.It is a known fact that the singing styles of Sankirtana were derived from Kirtan. We may analyze the original sources of Sankirtana and Kirtan in two different regions in India. The form of Sankirtana performed in the South and the North India. The Manipuri singing style of Sankirtana is called Nata Sankirtana. When the word “Nata” is placed before the word “Sankirtana”, it becomes more meaningful. The term Natais a Sanskrit word meaning “to act” or “to dance”. In the classical definition a “Nata” is the actor or performer who has the capability to express or act.

Keywords: Nata, Sankirtana, Raasleela, rituals, Krishna-Radha