The Mahābhārata is one of the two major Smriti texts and Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered in Hinduism, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas.
The Pandavas is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, who are central characters of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. They are acknowledged as the sons of Pandu, the King of Kuru, but were fathered by different Devas (gods) due to Pandu's inability to naturally conceive children. In the epic, the Pandavas married Draupadi, the princess of Panchala, and founded the city of Indraprastha after the Kuru Kingdom was split to avoid succession disputes. After the split, the other part of the kingdom was ruled by their cousins, the Kauravas. However, the Pandavas lost their kingdom to Duryodhana when Yudhishtira gambled it away during a game of dice. The bet Yudhishtira agreed to was that the Pandavas would hand the kingdom to the Kauravas and go into exile for 13 years. After this time the Kauravas refused to return the kingdom. As a result, the Pandavas waged a civil war against their extended family, and this conflict was known as the Kurukshetra War. With the help of the god Krishna, the Pandavas eventually won the war with the death of the Kauravas, albeit at great cost.
Duryodhana, also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari.
Bhishma, also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, is a major character of the epic Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War of the epic. He was the only character who witnessed the entirety of the events of the Mahabharata, beginning from the reign of his father, King Shantanu of the Kuru kingdom. Bhishma was the stepbrother of Vyasa, the grandfather of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He was a prominent statesman of the Kuru Kingdom. He was born as the elder son of the illustrious King Shantanu and goddess Ganga.
Abhimanyū is a warrior from the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the son of Arjuna, the third of the Pandavas and the hero of the epic, and Subhadra, the younger sister of the revered Hindu deity Krishna. Abhimanyū is portrayed as a young, strong and talented warrior. He was also one of the few individuals, along with his father, who knew the technique to enter Chakravyuha, a powerful military formation.
Yudhishthira also known as Dharmaraja, was the king of Indraprastha and later the Kuru Kingdom in ancient Indian History and the eldest among the five Pandava brothers, he is also one of the central figures of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata.
Sahadeva was the youngest of the Pandava brothers, the five principal protagonists of the epic Mahabharata. He and his twin brother, Nakula, were blessed to King Pandu and Queen Madri by invoking the twin gods Ashvins. Trained by Drona, Kripa and Brihaspati, Sahadeva is described to be skilled in swordsmanship and astrology, and also Neeti Sastra. He went on a war campaign to southern part of India to subjugate kingdoms for the Rajasuya sacrifice, after crowning his Pandava brother Yudhishthira as the emperor of Indraprastha. He was exiled for 13 years along with his Pandava brothers, when Yudhishthira lost all his possessions, his brothers, and their common wife Draupadi to Duryodhana of Kuru Kingdom of Hastinapura during a dice game played by the wily Shakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana. During his one year incognito living, as part of 13 years exile, he disguised as a cowherd and served in the Kingdom of Virata. During the 18-days Kurukshetra War, he slew many warriors including Shakuni. After the war, Yudhishthira appointed Sahadeva as the king of southern Madra. During his final journey of pilgrimage to the Himalayas, he succumbed en route, after Draupadi.
Shakuni is one of the antagonists of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king after the death of his father, Subala. He was the brother of Gandhari and the maternal uncle of the Kauravas.
The Kurukshetra War, also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu epic poem Mahabharata , arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura. The war laid the foundation for the events of the Bhagavad Gita.
Kunti, born Pritha, is a prominent figure in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Recognized for her pivotal role as the mother of Karna and the Pandavas, the central protagonists of the narrative, she is depicted as possessing notable beauty, intelligence, and shrewdness.
Mahabharat is an Indian Hindi-language epic television series based on the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. The original airing consisted of a total of 94 episodes and were broadcast from 2 October 1988 to 24 June 1990 on Doordarshan. It was produced by B. R. Chopra and directed by his son, Ravi Chopra. The music was composed by Raj Kamal. The script was written by Pandit Narendra Sharma and the Hindi/Urdu poet Rahi Masoom Raza, based on the epic by Vyasa. Costumes for the series were provided by Maganlal Dresswala. The serial claims to have used the Critical Edition of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute as its basic source with Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar and Shripad Krishna Belwalkar as its primary editor.
Mahabharat is a 1965 Hindi adventure fantasy film based on the Indian epic Mahabharata, starring Pradeep Kumar, Padmini, Dara Singh, Abhi Bhattacharya, Mahar Desai, Tiwari, and directed by Babubhai Mistri. The score was composed by Chitragupta and the title song was sung by Mohammed Rafi.
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the Upapandavas, also known as Pandavaputras, Draupadeyas or Panchakumaras are the five sons of Queen Draupadi from each of the five Pandavas. They are Prativindhya, Sutasoma, Shrutakarma, Shatanika and Shrutasena. They were Maharathis, as mentioned by Bhishma, and fought the Kurukshetra war on the side of the Pandavas and slew many enemy warriors. They were as ferocious as their fathers but other than that, not much is said in the Mahabharata about the brothers. They were very strong and they were only defeated by remarkably few Kaurava warriors.
Mahabharat is a 2013 Indian historical epic television series based on the Hindu Sanskrit Epic Mahabharata. It aired from 16 September 2013 to 16 August 2014 on Star Plus. The series is available digitally on Disney+ Hotstar. Produced by Swastik Productions Pvt. Ltd, it starred Saurabh Raj Jain, Pooja Sharma, Shaheer Sheikh and Aham Sharma.
Mahabharat is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language animated film, directed by Amaan Khan and based on the Hindu epic of the same name. The film is produced by Kushal Kantilal Gada and Dhaval Jayantilal Gada. The film was a Christmas release on 27 December 2013. Several actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Sunny Deol, Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Vidya Balan, Manoj Bajpayee, Deepti Naval were signed up for the characters in the film. It is touted as the most expensive animated film in Bollywood. The movie tells the story of the Indian epic Mahabharata. It received mixed reviews, with praise for its voice acting, but criticism for its animations.
Suryaputra Karn is an Indian historical epic television series, which premiered on 29 June 2015 on Sony Entertainment Television (India) and Sony Entertainment Television Asia. The show aired Monday through Friday nights at 8:30 pm. Produced by Siddharth Kumar Tewary of Swastik Pictures, the series covers the life journey of Karna in the Mahabharata. The show starred Gautam Rode, Vishesh Bansal and Basant Bhatt as the lead character at various stages of his life.
Dharmakshetra is a mythological drama series which aired on the channel The EPIC Channel. The series is set in the aftermath of the battle of Mahabharata. The story is told from the perspective of the various characters as they are brought to the court of Chitragupta. All the episodes are available on streaming network EPIC ON.
Mahabharat Katha is an Indian television series aired on DD National. This is a sequel which contains portions and stories left out of Mahabharat. It was produced by B. R. Chopra and directed by his son Ravi Chopra.
Karn Sangini is a mythological Indian television series based on Kavita Kané's novel Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen that aired on StarPlus. Created by Shashi Sumeet Productions, it stars Tejasswi Prakash and Aashim Gulati and was cancelled on 25 February 2019 due to low viewership.
