Burning Man isn’t a festival so much as a mirage. Each year, at the end of August, Black Rock City rises from the Nevada desert, a temporary utopia of art, music, dust storms, and impossible dreams. Temples are set aflame, mutant vehicles shaped like whales roll across the desert, strangers become kin under a wide-open sky. It’s where myth and imagination collide, and where stories take on physical form. And where some of the world’s most arresting art installations reveal themselves in the dust.
Odisha Arrives on the Playa
This year, amid the chaos and shimmer, something unexpected arrived: Odisha at Burning Man 2025. A sculptural installation titled Navagunjara Reborn: The Phoenix of Odisha stood tall on the playa. A first-of-its-kind project fabricated entirely in Odisha.
Phoenix Meets Navagunjara
Created by Richa Maheshwari and Jnaneshwar Das, both engineers-turned-artists, the work was one of only twelve global projects to receive Burning Man’s prestigious Honoraria Grant. At its heart was a fusion of two mythical creatures: the phoenix, forever rising from the ashes, and the Navagunjara. Which is a fantastical nine-part beast from Odisha’s 15th-century Sarala Mahabharata. Together, they became a symbol of transformation, resilience, and unity in diversity — speaking to both Burning Man’s spirit and Odisha’s ancient storytelling.
Craft as Storytelling
Every inch of Navagunjara Reborn carried the imprint of Odisha’s craft traditions. Beta kaama cane weaving. Bobei sabai grass craft. Dhokra metalwork. Pattachitra painting. Pipli appliqué embroidery. Handwoven kapdaganga shawls, kotpad textiles dyed in Indian madder, ringa loincloths by Bonda women, and intricate metal wirework from tara dhaancha kala. Rather than being confined to museums or galleries, these crafts stood under desert sun and moonlight, alive in a new myth.
Artists and Intentions
For Maheshwari, it was a shift. After 15 years in software, she turned toward Boito, her fashion and art label reimagining Odisha’s craft for a global stage. For Das, it was a continuation. A roboticist and installation artist, his path with Burning Man began back in 2012. For both, Navagunjara Reborn was never just an installation. It was a way of placing Odisha on a global stage, of bridging heritage with radical innovation.
And so, at Burning Man 2025, between dust storms and desert stars, Odisha’s artistry found a new home. A phoenix rose. A Navagunjara walked. And together, they reminded the world that tradition, like the playa itself, can be endlessly reborn.