# Performance Traditions of the Mahabharata in Tamil Nadu

- Institution: IIT Madras
- Department: Humanities and Social Sciences
- Taught by: Prof. Sashikanth Ananthachari, Prof. Rajesh Kumar
- Level: Undergraduate
- Language: English
- Subjects: Society and politics
- Source: [NPTEL](https://nptel.ac.in/courses/109106500)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-SA](https://nptel.ac.in/faq) (Non-commercial use only.)
- Syllabus: [at the source](https://nptel.ac.in/courses/109106500)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

In over 300 villages in Tamil Nadu, the Mahabharata is celebrated as a unique festival. The Epic is performed as village rituals, sung/narrated as a story, and enacted right through the night in a traditional masked theater form called the Koothu. It is an immersive experience of the Epic and entire villages relive the Epic for twenty days each year. Each family in the village contributes money for the festival making this possibly the oldest independent theater festival in the world currently.

Intended audience: Students of Performance studies, students of Religious studies, sociologists, Mahabharata scholars.

## Lectures

1. [A Brief Introduction to the Mahabharata](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/6ecd2733ec27) (YouTube)
2. [A Brief Introduction to the Mahabharata Festivals of Tamil Nadu](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/ba326a395710) (YouTube)
3. [The Idea of the Chariot](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/d25013427035) (YouTube)
4. [The Custodians of the Festival](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/b7c19c18593b) (YouTube)
5. [The Festivals as Total Theatre](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/e36c7e08a759) (YouTube)
6. [Potturaja and the Anti-War Nature of the Festival](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/88406d242370) (YouTube)
7. [Kelai Draupadai](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/b0b08c847214) (YouTube)
8. [A brief introduction to Koothu as a theatrical form](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/4dddc8c2d816) (YouTube)
9. [Vil Valaippu, or The bending of the bow](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/2c5a02621f2b) (YouTube)
10. [The Marriage ritual of Draupadi](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/45d9479ddd65) (YouTube)
11. [Subhadra Kalyanam](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/3b86eaa9c8f8) (YouTube)
12. [Rajasuya Yaagam](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/59c1861f1c1e) (YouTube)
13. [Draupadiyin Thugilum, Parandhamanin Arulum](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/9971818f4140) (YouTube)
14. [Arjuna’s Tapas](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/effeef952d4b) (YouTube)
15. [Kichaka Vadham](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/25453a78e882) (YouTube)
16. [Krishnan Thoodu](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/afd55e529c6a) (YouTube)
17. [Aravan Kalabali](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/2333407a8069) (YouTube)
18. [Karna Moksham](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/acd5b9ae3d3b) (YouTube)
19. [Pathinettam Por or the Eighteenth Day’s War Dharumarin Pattabhishekam and Ashwamedha Yaagam](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/3bcc7c4ecb13) (YouTube)
20. [Dharumarin Pattabhishekam and Ashwamedha Yaagam](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109106500/ae3db50ae229) (YouTube)