Ganita Pāndulipira Barnanātmaka Bibarani

Authors

Gouranga Charana Dash

Synopsis

A comprehensive catalogue documenting 244 palm-leaf manuscripts written in Odia that contain mathematical knowledge. These centuries-old manuscripts reveal Odisha's long-standing tradition of mathematical study and teaching, spanning thousands of years. The book goes beyond being a mere catalogue of mathematical texts. It represents a unique intersection of mathematics with Odia language, literature, culture, society, and religious systems. The manuscripts contain mathematical formulas composed as songs in various musical modes - designed for students to sing and memorize - accompanied by prose explanations, story-based problem-solving, and numerical puzzles. In essence, it's an archival work that preserves and presents India's mathematical heritage while demonstrating the creative pedagogical methods used in traditional Odia education, making it valuable for both understanding historical mathematical practices and appreciating the cultural richness of how mathematical knowledge was transmitted in Odisha.

Chapters

Author Biography

Gouranga Charana Dash

He represents a remarkable blend of creativity and critical scholarship. Since 1979, he has been teaching Odia language and literature at various government colleges and universities in Odisha. He has a distinct identity in the field of folklore and cultural research. However, the most notable aspect of his scholarship is his untiring effort to bring out the knowledge preserved in palm-leaf manuscripts and periodicals and to edit them scientifically and critically. He is one of the few well-known scholars in Odisha in the field of textual editing. Through personal initiative and cooperation with like-minded scholars, numerous ancient and medieval literary works, as well as the collected writings of modern literary figures, have been published. It is said that he is one of the foremost lovers of palm-leaf manuscripts. At present, with assistance from other colleagues, he is preparing a text-based critical edition of the Mahabharata by the fifteenth-century poet Saroladas.

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Published

October 15, 2026

Series

History Society Knowledge: வரலாறு சமூகம் சிந்தனை

Categories

Copyright (c) 2026 Publisher and Author

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Details about this monograph

ISBN-13 (15)

978-81-979456-0-1

How to Cite

(Ed.). (2026). Ganita Pāndulipira Barnanātmaka Bibarani: Vol. Book 3, Series 1. Palm Leaf Press. https://palmleafpress.net/index.php/plp/catalog/book/34