He had done a extensive study and research to write such a huge book on birds. Sources said, he took around 45 years to write the book. For which, he went through the ancient Indian scriptures – the Vedas, Puranas and Sanskrit texts – to find and establish the existence of such species thousands of years ago, and document them in present context.
Presented in six volumes, the book is not just a dictionary of more than 2,085 birds as per their order, family, sub-family and genera, but also provides a Sanskrit taxonomy of birds in the sub-continent, names of the birds in all Indian languages and explains 127 colour plates on birds.
Besides ‘Vihanga Samhita’, he has written many other books on wildlife and all. He was honoured with Biju Patnaik Award for Lifetime contribution to wildlife conservation.
The three-time MLA from Mahana Constituency, Dev inherited the interest in studying birds from his father Late Nandakishor Anangabhima Dev Keshari, Gajapati Maharaj of Sanakhemundi.
Governor of Odisha Prof. Ganeshi Lal and Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik expressed their condolences.
