Amrutara Santana dates from the mid-1940s, just before India's Independence, and lays bare the cruel patterns of tribal people's dispossession and exploitation still all too relevant today, since these patterns persist with only superficial modifications. How much has really changed? Gopinath Mohanty's romanticized portrait of tribal society raises profound questions on change. Amrutara Santana touches on archetypal themes - the rhythms of Mother Earth and her human offspring; the loves and quarrels of Men and Women, set here in the beauties and dangers of the Forest, where the Tiger is an ever-present threat. The book received the first ever Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia in 1955 and was the first novel in India to have bagged this honour. The book has been translated into a number of India languages, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Punjabi and English etc.