The Mahābhārata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors.
In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima is the second among the five Pandavas. The Mahabharata relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. After the death of Pandu and Madri, Kunti with her sons stayed in Hastinapura. From his childhood, Bhima had a rivalry with his cousins Kauravas, especially Duryodhana. Duryodhana and his uncle, Shakuni, tried to kill Bhima multiple times. One was by poisoning and throwing Bhima into a river. Bhima was rescued by Nāgas and was given a drink which made him very strong and immune to all venom.
The Pandavas refers to the five brothers namely, Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, who are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu and are central to the epic Mahabharata. The Pandavas waged a civil war against their extended family consisting of their cousins Kauravas led by Duryodhana and his brothers, as well as their preceptor and gurus Bhishma and Drona respectfully. This conflict was known as Kurukshetra War. The Pandavas eventually won the war with the demise of the Kauravas, albeit at great cost as well as breaking contracts.
Ghatotkacha played a very important character in the story of Mahabharata. His name comes from the fact that his head was hairless (utkacha) and shaped like a ghatam, or a pot. Ghatotkacha was the son of the Pandava Bhima and the demoness Hidimbi.
Draupadi, also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is the heroine of the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. She was the common wife of the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. She is described to be the most beautiful woman of her time and was prophesied to bring the end of many warriors.
Gandhari is a prominent character in the Indian epic the Mahabharata. She was a princess of Gandhara and the wife of Dhritrashtra, the blind king of Hastinapura, and the mother of a hundred sons, the Kauravas, and a daughter.
Sanjaya or Sanjaya Gavalgana is a character from the ancient Indian Hindu war epic Mahābhārata. In Mahabharata—An ancient story of a war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas—the blind king Dhritarashtra is the father of the principals of the Kaurava side. Sanjaya, son of charioteer Gavalgana, is Dhritarashtra's advisor and also his charioteer. Sanjaya was a disciple of sage Krishna Dwaipayana Veda Vyasa and was immensely devoted to his master, King Dhritarashtra. Sanjaya — who has the gift of seeing events at a distance (divya-drishti) right in front of him, granted by the sage Vyasa — narrates to Dhritarashtra the action in the climactic battle of Kurukshetra, which includes the Bhagavad Gita.
Yudhishtira was the first among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharat. He was the son of the king Pandu of Kuru Dynasty and his first wife, Kunti and was blessed to the couple by the God Dharma, who is identified with the death god Yama.Yudhishthira becomes the Chakravartin Emperor of India and the king of Indraprastha and later became the ruler of the one of major Mahajanapada of ancient India known as Kuru Kingdom with the capital Hastinapura.
Chhattisgarh is a state of India with strong tribal traditions of music and dance. The state of Chhattisgarh is best known for its deep roots in folk music, which originated from its long history of tribal involvement.
Shakuni is one of the principal characters in 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.
Teejan Bai is an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacts tales from the Mahabharata, with musical accompaniments.
Kunti, also known as Pritha, is one of the female protagonists of the epic, Mahabharata. She is best known as the mother of the Pandavas, the main protagonists of the epic, and the warrior Karna. She is also mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana because of her connection with Krishna, the main figure of the text. She is described to be beautiful, intelligent and shrewd. she is also mentioned in 2nd canto of Devi-Bhagavata Purana.
Mahabharat is an Indian Hindi-language epic television series based on the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabarata. 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 original story 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.
The Vana Parva, also known as the "Book Of The Forest", is the third of eighteen parvas in the Indian Epic Mahabharata. Aranya Parva traditionally has 21 Sub-Books and 324 Chapters. The Critical Edition of Aranya Parva is the longest of the 18 books in the epic, containing 16 Sub-Books and 299 Chapters.
Mahabharat is a 2013 Indian drama television series based on the Sanskrit epic Mahabharat. It aired from 16 September 2013 to 16 August 2014 on Star Plus. The television show was produced by Swastik Productions Pvt. Ltd. The story mainly focuses on Pandavas and Karna and tells the story through their point of view.
Mahabharat is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language computer animated historical drama film, directed by Amaan Khan and based on the Sanatana Dharma 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. Mahabharat is touted as the most expensive animated film in Bollywood. The movie tells the story of the Indian epic Mahabharata in a way children would find entertaining. It received mixed reviews, with praise for its voice acting, but criticism for its animations. It was a box office disaster.
Venmurasu is a Tamil novel by writer Jeyamohan. A modern renarration of the Indian classical epic Mahabharatha, it is considered Jeyamohan's most ambitious work to date, with a scope and scale that seeks to match the grandness of the epic itself. Jeyamohan started writing the work in January 2014 and announced plans to write it every day over ten years. He completed Venmurasu in 2020 spanning 26 volumes and 26,000 pages.
Punaram Nishad, born in Ringni, Dist Durg Chhattisgarh, is an Indian folk musician, known for his prowess in the Pandavani, a folk music tradition of Chhattisgarh and the neighbouring states in India. Born in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, to a Bhajan singer, he started learning the art from the age of 10 under Jhadu Ram Dewangan, considered by many as the father of Pandvani, and aligned with the Vedamati tradition of Pandavani, which follows a rigid text, and does not permit improvisations.
Pandav Lila or Pandav Nritya is a ritual re-enactment of stories from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, through singing, dancing and recitation, that is practised in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India. Pandavas are the five protagonists in the epic and the village amateurs take on their roles and perform the lila outdoors, accompanied by the folk instruments dhol, damau and two long trumpets called bhankore. The performances, which can last anywhere from three days to a month in different villages, draw large crowds and are an important cultural highlight of the year. The ritualistic drama features actors who often spontaneously become "possessed" by the spirits of their characters and begin to dance.
