Mahabharata, like the other two major classical epics of Hinduism (Ramayana and Bhagavata), is not just a text but lives on through several traditions of Hindu culture among Hindus across regions—including the remotest corners—and across communities of all strata.
That the Mahabharata is one of the significant narratives living through classical, folk, and vanavasi (forest dweller) narrative and theatrical performing art forms across regions and communities may be known or expected. But what is less known is the fact that there are temples built for the heroic characters—the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi—installing them as deities in some regions of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. The ‘theatrical performance’ of Mahabharata is a vibrant, deeply immersive, and elaborate worship ritual, participated in by entire villages for extended periods every year.
Alf Hiltebeitel, an American Indologist who passed away recently, published a two-volume book The Cult of Draupadi, the first volume titled Mythologies from Gingee to Kurukshetra, and the second volume, On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess. Many Indian researchers, while appreciating the work of Prof. Hiltebeitel, identified gaps even in that deep and elaborate work on what is known as Tirunallu or Jatra of Dharmaraja in some places, and the Kolupulu or worship rituals of Draupadi in others. Prof. Hiltebeitel also covers the Kuttantavar cult associated with the deity Aravan, who is identified with the character Babhruvahana from the Mahabharata.
There are studies in Telugu and Kannada on the worship of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, as a deity in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The ritual is known as Konti/Kontemma Puja/Puje. There are many more such ritual and temple traditions associated with the Mahabharata in different parts of Bharat.
Mahabharata itself is the Jāti Purana of a certain community called Mudiraj in Telangana. The sub-jāti dedicated to the narrative performance of this Jāti Purana is called Pandavulollu, “The Pandavas People.” The Mahabharata is painted on cloth scrolls used by this community as an aid in their performing art. Similar community origin narratives of different jātis and vanavasi (forest dweller) communities are associated with certain characters and episodes of the Mahabharata.
Many sthalapuranas of temples, shrines, and origin narratives of natural forms such as hills, water bodies, villages, and towns are associated with and named after different characters or episodes of the Mahabharata.
Different sub-narratives of the Mahabharata have also developed into independent narratives and their own living traditions. One example is the narrative of Nala and Damayanti, which, while forming the plot of the highly scholar-oriented Sanskrit narrative poem by Sri Harsha called Naishadham or Naishadheeyacharitam, is also a very popular story within the repertoire of folk performing artists in at least the southern Indian states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. There may be many other such instances of living traditions based on sub-narratives of the Mahabharata.
There are also beliefs surrounding the kathāvāchan or Purāṇa pravachana of the Mahabharata, such as that the narration of the Virata Parva brings rain during droughts, and the pārāyaṇa of the Nala-Damayanti story helps in resolving marital disputes. The list can go on.
INDICA is organizing an online symposium on this vital topic on Sunday, the 22nd of June, 2025. Those who would like to volunteer to give a talk or suggest an expert speaker for the symposium may write to namaste@indica.org.in.
