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Dr. Karuna Sagar Behera, born on 5th December, 1939 at Angul, was educated in Angul High School, Angul and Revenshaw College, Cuttack. He earned M.A. in History in 1960 from Utkal University with first position. He obtained Post-Graduate Diploma in Archaeology from the School of Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi. He was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Literature by Utkal University for his study of Konarak. He joined Orissa Educational service in 1961 and in 1962, he was appointed as Lecturer in the Post-Graduate Department of History, Utkal University. Subsequently he held the position of Reader in History and became a Professor in 1976. He has contributed to the academic life of the University as Professor and Head of the Post-Graduate Department of History, Chairman of the Post-Graduate Council, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Member of the Syndicate of the University for four years. He was the President of the Orissa History Congress, Member of the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology, Govt. of India and Member of the Governing Body of the National Council of Science Museums. His foreign visits include Gemany, Finland, U.K., China and Indonesia. He has published several articles on Orissan History, Culture, Art and Archaeology. He is the author of Temples of Orissa; Konarak : The Heritage of Mankind (2 Vols.) and Sculptural Masterpieces from Orissa : Style and Iconography (co-author). He has also contributed to Orissa Bibliography and Orissa Gazetteers. He is at present Professor of History, Utkal University and Director, Orissan Institute of Maritime and South-east Asian Studies in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. He is currently conducting research into indigenous tradition of boat-building and navigation in the Indian Ocean.

Prof. Thomas Donaldson (Ph.D.) is a leading authority on Indian art, particularly Orissan art, as he has been studying and writing on the subject for more than three decades. His works include a monumental three-volume study titled Hindu Temple Art of Orissa (1985-87), Kamadeva’s Pleasure Garden in Orissa (1987), Sculptural Masterpieces from Orissa: Style and Iconography, co-authored with K.S. Behera (1998), Ornaments of Orissa, co-authored by R.P. Mohapatra (1998), Iconography of Vaisnava Image in Orissa (2001), and The Iconography of the Buddhist Sculpture of Orissa – 2 vols. (2001)