“A skull in the holy sands tilts its empty country towards hunger.”—Explain the lines. / What picture do we get of our country?

Answer: These lines occur in Jayanta Mahapatra’s poem Dawn At Puri. Puri is the name of a famous town in Orissa which is considered sacred because of the temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath. Here, the poet has tried to unveil the original economic and religious scene of Puri as well as whole country that never gets revealed. Once the poet walks on the beach at Puri. He then notices a skull on the beach where bodies are normally cremated. The skull is a part of a cremation that has not been completely burnt by the funeral pyre. This skull is emblematic of the poverty and spiritual handicap of Puri, in spite of all the religious connections and connotations. The skull represents the hollowness of life, and the inevitability of death. Puri here, functions as a miniature metaphor of India. The term ‘empty country’ reflects the pathetic economic condition of most of the people of India.