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Critical Edition of the Mahabharata Class 12 History

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HistoryCBSE Class 12 · Kinship, Caste and Class: Early Societies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata and How Historians Read It (Class 12)

Updated 15 October 2026 · Fact-checked

The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata was prepared from 1919 to 1966 by dozens of scholars led by V.S. Sukthankar. They collected Sanskrit manuscripts from across the subcontinent, compared their verses, chose those common to most versions and recorded regional variations, publishing over 13,000 pages over 47 years.

Notice the split: verses common to most manuscripts became the main text, while regional variations were recorded in footnotes and appendices.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata

Why this topic matters. Theme 3 builds its social history on the Mahabharata, so it first explains how the text was edited and how historians read it. Boards ask for Sukthankar's method (3 or 8 marks), why the Mahabharata is a 'dynamic text', and how historians analyse texts. NCERT: sections 1, 6 and 7 of Theme 3, with Timeline 2.

1. The text. The Mahabharata is a colossal epic of over 100,000 verses in its present form. It was composed over about 1,000 years (c. 500 BCE onwards), and some stories may be older. Its central story is about two sets of warring cousins; it also has sections laying down norms of behaviour.

2. The Critical Edition project (1919-66).

1. Leader and team: begun in 1919 under V.S. Sukthankar, a noted Indian Sanskritist, with a team of dozens of scholars.
2. Collecting: Sanskrit manuscripts in a variety of scripts were gathered from different parts of the country.
3. Comparing: the team worked out a method of comparing verses from each manuscript.
4. Selecting: they chose the verses common to most versions.
5. Publishing: these were published in several volumes of over 13,000 pages; the work took 47 years.
6. Recording variations: regional variations were documented in footnotes and appendices; together these take up more than half the 13,000 pages.

3. What the project showed.

  • Common elements: the Sanskrit versions shared a great deal, whether the manuscript came from Kashmir or Nepal (north) or from Kerala or Tamil Nadu (south).
  • Regional variations: there were enormous differences in how the text had been transmitted over the centuries.
  • These variations reflect dialogues between dominant traditions and resilient local ideas and practices, marked by both conflict and consensus.

4. A lesson about sources. Our picture of early society comes mainly from Sanskrit texts written by and for Brahmanas. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians took them at face value, assuming that norms were actually practised. Later study of Pali, Prakrit and Tamil works showed that Sanskrit norms were generally accepted as authoritative but were also questioned and sometimes rejected.

5. How historians handle a text. Before using its content, historians ask:

  • Language: Prakrit, Pali or Tamil (probably used by ordinary people) or Sanskrit (mainly for priests and elites)? The Mahabharata's Sanskrit is far simpler than that of the Vedas or the prashastis, so it was probably widely understood.
  • Kind of text: mantras chanted by ritual specialists, or stories people could read, hear and retell?
  • Author(s) and audience: whose perspective shaped it, and for whom?
  • Date and place of composition or compilation.
  • Content: historians divide it into narrative (stories) and didactic (prescriptions on social norms), though the line is not watertight. The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna's advice to Arjuna, is perhaps the most important didactic section. Most agree the epic was meant as a dramatic story and the didactic parts were probably added later.
  • The text is called itihasa ('thus it was', i.e. history). Whether a real war lies behind it is uncertain: some see a memory of a conflict among kinfolk; others note there is no corroborative evidence.

6. Authors and dates (phases of composition).

PhaseWhat happened
EarliestStory probably composed by sutas, charioteer-bards who accompanied Kshatriya warriors; circulated orally
From the 5th century BCEBrahmanas took it over and began to write it down, as chiefdoms like the Kurus and Panchalas became kingdoms
c. 200 BCE-200 CEVishnu worship grew; Krishna came to be identified with Vishnu
c. 200-400 CELarge didactic sections resembling the Manusmriti added

The text grew from perhaps under 10,000 verses to about 100,000. Tradition attributes it to the sage Vyasa (who, by tradition, dictated it to Ganesha).

7. The search for convergence. In 1951-52, B.B. Lal excavated at Hastinapura in Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), in the Upper Ganga doab where the Kuru kingdom lay. Of five occupational levels, the second (c. twelfth-seventh centuries BCE) had mud and mud-brick walls and reed walls plastered with mud; the third (c. sixth-third centuries BCE) had mud-brick and burnt-brick houses, soakage jars, brick drains and terracotta ring-wells. These modest finds do not match the epic's description of a splendid city, which may have been added later or may be poetic imagination.

8. A dynamic text. The epic kept growing after the Sanskrit version: versions in many languages; regional stories absorbed into it; the central story retold in different ways; episodes shown in sculpture and painting and in plays, dance and narration. Example: Mahashweta Devi's short story 'Kunti O Nishadi' retells the house-of-lac episode from the point of view of a nishada woman whose relatives died there, raising questions the Sanskrit text is silent on.

Timeline 2. 1919-66 Critical Edition prepared and published; 1973 J.A.B. van Buitenen begins an English translation (incomplete at his death in 1978).

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

  • Taken together, more than half the 13,000 pages are devoted to these variations.

    NCERT, Theme 3, section 1: On the footnotes and appendices of the Critical Edition.

    Shows how much regional variation there was.

  • The project took 47 years to complete.

    NCERT, Theme 3, section 1: On the Critical Edition, begun in 1919.

    A key figure for 1-mark and 3-mark answers.

  • The literal meaning of the term is “thus it was”

    NCERT, Theme 3, section 6.1: On the Mahabharata described as itihasa.

    Explains why the epic is called history in Sanskrit tradition.

  • The growth of the Mahabharata did not stop with the Sanskrit version.

    NCERT, Theme 3, section 7: Opening of 'A Dynamic Text'.

    The thesis of any 'dynamic text' answer.

The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata: key facts

Critical Edition in numbers
Begun 1919; led by V.S. Sukthankar; dozens of scholars; over 13,000 pages; 47 years (1919-66)
More than half the pages record variations.
Method
  1. 1.Collect manuscripts (many scripts, all regions)
  2. 2.compare verses
  3. 3.select verses common to most
  4. 4.publish
  5. 5.record variations in footnotes and appendices
Five steps for 3-mark answers.
Two findings
Common elements from Kashmir and Nepal to Kerala and Tamil Nadu; enormous regional variations
Variations = dialogue between dominant and local traditions.
Historians' checklist for a text
  • Language
  • Kind of text
  • Author(s) and audience
  • Date and place
  • Content (narrative or didactic)
Assess first, then use the content.
Phases of composition
  1. 1.Sutas (oral)
  2. 2.Brahmanas write it down from 5th century BCE
  3. 3.c. 200 BCE-200 CE Krishna linked with Vishnu
  4. 4.c. 200-400 CE didactic sections added
Under 10,000 verses to about 100,000; attributed to Vyasa.
Why a dynamic text
  • Many languages
  • Regional stories added
  • Retellings
  • Sculpture and painting
  • Plays, dance, narration
Example: Mahashweta Devi's 'Kunti O Nishadi'.

How to answer The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata questions

Expect 1-mark items (who led the project, what itihasa means), 3-mark questions (Sukthankar's process; why the Mahabharata is dynamic), and 8-mark questions on the Critical Edition or on how historians analyse the epic.

  1. 1For the Critical Edition, write the steps in order with the numbers: 1919, dozens of scholars, 13,000 pages, 47 years.
  2. 2Add the two findings (common elements, regional variations) and what the variations mean.
  3. 3For 'dynamic text', give at least three ways the epic kept changing, with one example.
  4. 4For 'how historians analyse', use the five-point checklist and apply it to the Mahabharata.
  5. 5Close with the caution that Sanskrit norms were not always followed.

The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Comparing versions to build a critical edition

Suppose ten families in different states each have a handwritten copy of the same old recipe for a festival sweet, and every copy differs a little.

How would you prepare one 'standard' recipe while keeping the variations, and which project does this mirror?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Collect all ten copies.
  2. Compare them line by line and keep the steps found in most copies as the main recipe.
  3. Note the local differences (extra cardamom, a different flour) at the bottom.
  4. This is what Sukthankar's team did with Mahabharata manuscripts.

Answer: Collect, compare, select the common lines and record the differences in notes: the method of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata.

Memory hook: Keep what most agree on; footnote the rest.

A dynamic text

Imagine a popular folk tale that your grandmother tells in Marathi, a TV serial shows with new scenes, and a novelist rewrites from the villain's side.

Why would a historian call such a story 'dynamic', and how is the Mahabharata similar?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. The story keeps changing with language, medium and teller.
  2. New episodes and viewpoints are added.
  3. The Mahabharata was rewritten in many languages, absorbed regional stories, was retold, painted, sculpted and performed, and reimagined by writers like Mahashweta Devi.

Answer: Because it keeps growing through new versions and media; the Mahabharata did the same over centuries.

Memory hook: A living story never stops growing.

Tricks to remember The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

  • 1919 + 47 = 1966

    Start year plus duration gives the finish year of the Critical Edition.

    Use it when: Dates and duration in one sum.

  • C-C-S-P-R

    Collect, Compare, Select, Publish, Record variations: 'Clever Critics Select Pages Reliably'.

    Use it when: Steps of the method.

  • L-K-A-D-C: reading a text

    Language, Kind, Author and audience, Date and place, Content: 'Let Kids Ask DeepCwestions'.

    Use it when: How historians analyse texts.

The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Who led the project? · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

The preparation of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata was led by
(a) B.B. Lal
(b) V.S. Sukthankar
(c) J.A.B. van Buitenen
(d) Mahashweta Devi

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. V.S. Sukthankar, a noted Indian Sanskritist, led the project from 1919 (1 mark).

Answer: (b) V.S. Sukthankar

Example 2: Sukthankar's process · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

Explain, step by step, how V.S. Sukthankar's team prepared the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. From 1919, dozens of scholars collected Sanskrit manuscripts in many scripts from all over the country (1 mark).
  2. They compared verses and selected those common to most versions, publishing them in volumes of over 13,000 pages over 47 years (1 mark).
  3. Regional variations were recorded in footnotes and appendices, which fill more than half the pages (1 mark).

Answer: The project began in 1919 under V.S. Sukthankar with a team of dozens of scholars. They first collected Sanskrit manuscripts of the Mahabharata, written in different scripts, from many parts of the country. They devised a method of comparing verses across manuscripts and selected the verses that appeared common to most versions, publishing them in several volumes of over 13,000 pages; the work took 47 years. Variations between manuscripts were carefully documented in footnotes and appendices, which together take up more than half the pages.

Example 3: Assertion and reason on itihasa · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): Historians are certain that the Mahabharata records a real war.
Reason (R): The Mahabharata is described as an itihasa, meaning 'thus it was'.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Historians are not sure: some see a memory of a real conflict, others note there is no corroborative evidence; R is a correct fact (1 mark).

Answer: (d) A is false but R is true.

Example 4: Why a dynamic text? · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Give three pieces of evidence to show that the Mahabharata is a 'dynamic text'. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Its growth continued after the Sanskrit version: versions in many languages through dialogue between peoples and authors (1 mark).
  2. Regional stories were absorbed and the central story retold in different ways; episodes depicted in sculpture, painting, plays, dance and narration (1 mark).
  3. Example: Mahashweta Devi's 'Kunti O Nishadi' retells the house-of-lac episode from a nishada woman's viewpoint (1 mark).

Answer: The Mahabharata did not stop growing with its Sanskrit version. Over the centuries it was written in many languages through a continuing dialogue between peoples, communities and writers, and stories from particular regions or groups found their way into it. Its central story was retold in many ways and its episodes were shown in sculpture and painting and performed in plays, dances and narrations. For example, the Bengali writer Mahashweta Devi's short story 'Kunti O Nishadi' retells the house-of-lac episode from the point of view of a nishada woman, raising questions the Sanskrit text leaves silent.

Example 5: Source-based: two sets of findings · 4 marks · Source-basedHarder board level

Read the source (written for this page from the NCERT account) and answer.

After decades of comparing manuscripts gathered from the Himalayas to the far south, the editors noticed two things. Large parts of the story were shared everywhere. Yet every region had its own additions and changes, and these were so many that recording them took up more space than the main text itself.

(i) Which project does the source describe? (1)
(ii) Name two regions from which manuscripts showed common elements. (1)
(iii) What do the regional variations tell historians about early social history? (2)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. (i) The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata (1919-66) under V.S. Sukthankar (1 mark).
  2. (ii) Any two: Kashmir, Nepal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu (1 mark).
  3. (iii) Social histories were shaped by dialogue between dominant traditions and resilient local ideas, with both conflict and consensus; Brahmanical norms were not uniform everywhere (2 marks).

Answer: (i) The preparation of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata led by V.S. Sukthankar. (ii) Kashmir and Nepal in the north, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south. (iii) The variations show that the text was shaped through dialogues between dominant traditions and resilient local ideas and practices, involving both conflict and consensus. So social norms were not simply imposed from one centre; regions adapted and resisted them.

Example 6: Long answer: how historians read the epic · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

"Historians must examine the language, authorship, date and content of the Mahabharata before using it as a source." Explain with examples. (8 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Introduction: over 100,000 verses, composed over about 1,000 years; Critical Edition (1 mark).
  2. Language: simple Sanskrit, probably widely understood, though Sanskrit was mainly for elites (1 mark).
  3. Content: narrative and didactic; Bhagavad Gita; didactic parts probably later (1 mark).
  4. Itihasa: 'thus it was'; was there a real war? (1 mark).
  5. Authorship: sutas, then Brahmanas from the fifth century BCE; tradition credits Vyasa (1 mark).
  6. Dates: c. 200 BCE-200 CE Krishna-Vishnu; c. 200-400 CE didactic sections; growth from under 10,000 to 100,000 verses (1 mark).
  7. Convergence: B.B. Lal at Hastinapura (1951-52); finds do not match the splendid city of the epic; Draupadi's polyandry and multiple explanations (1 mark).
  8. Conclusion: texts reflect their authors' perspectives; caution against face-value reading (1 mark).

Answer: The Mahabharata, a colossal epic of over 100,000 verses composed over about a thousand years from c. 500 BCE, is one of the richest sources for early society, but historians first have to assess it.

Language: it is in Sanskrit, a language used mainly by priests and elites, yet its Sanskrit is much simpler than that of the Vedas or prashastis, so it was probably widely understood. Content: historians divide it into narrative sections (stories) and didactic sections (norms), though the line is not watertight; the Bhagavad Gita is the best-known didactic part, and most agree that such portions were added later to what was first a dramatic story. The epic calls itself itihasa, 'thus it was', but whether a real war lies behind it is debated, as there is no corroborative evidence.

Authorship and date: the story was probably first composed and recited by sutas, charioteer-bards of Kshatriya warriors. From the fifth century BCE, Brahmanas took it over and wrote it down as chiefdoms like the Kurus and Panchalas became kingdoms. Between c. 200 BCE and 200 CE, Krishna came to be identified with Vishnu, and during c. 200-400 CE long didactic passages similar to the Manusmriti were inserted, swelling the text from under 10,000 verses to about 100,000. Tradition attributes it to Vyasa.

Testing content against other evidence is difficult. B.B. Lal's excavation at Hastinapura in 1951-52 found mud and mud-brick houses, later burnt-brick houses with drains and ring-wells, nothing like the splendid city of the epic. The several explanations offered for Draupadi's polyandrous marriage suggest the practice was falling out of favour.

Thus only after weighing language, authorship, date and content can historians use the epic, and even then they read it as a perspective, not a literal record.

Where students lose marks in The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

  • Mistake: Confusing the Critical Edition with the composition of the epic

    Both involve 'making' the Mahabharata.

    Wrong working

    Sukthankar composed the Mahabharata in 1919.

    Right working

    Sukthankar's team edited existing manuscripts to prepare a critical edition, 1919-66.

    Do this: Composed over 1,000 years; edited over 47 years.

    Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

  • Mistake: Mixing up 13,000 and 100,000

    Two big numbers.

    Wrong working

    The Critical Edition had 100,000 pages.

    Right working

    Over 13,000 pages; the epic has about 100,000 verses.

    Do this: Pages = 13 thousand; verses = 1 lakh.

    Usually costs: 1 mark.

  • Mistake: Forgetting what the variations mean

    Students stop at 'variations were recorded'.

    Wrong working

    Variations were put in footnotes.

    Right working

    Variations were put in footnotes; they show dialogue between dominant traditions and local practices.

    Do this: Always add the significance.

    Usually costs: 1 mark.

  • Mistake: Writing that Vyasa certainly wrote the epic

    Tradition is presented as fact.

    Wrong working

    Vyasa wrote all 100,000 verses.

    Right working

    Tradition attributes it to Vyasa; it was composed in phases by sutas and later Brahmanas.

    Do this: Use 'traditionally attributed'.

    Usually costs: Accuracy mark.

Exam tips

  • Asked in: 2025 board paper 61/5/1 Q22(a) (3 marks) and 2026 board paper 61/4/1 Q28(b) (8 marks) on Sukthankar's process; 2024 board paper 61/1/1 Q22 (3 marks, dynamic text or the scholars' role in the critical edition); 2023 board papers 61/1/1 Q23 and 61/3/1 Q23 (3 marks, dynamic text); 2026 board paper 61/3/1 Q28(a) (8 marks, dynamic text); 2024 board paper 61/3/1 Q13 (1 mark, who began the project). Answers here are our own.
  • Numbers carry marks: 1919, dozens of scholars, 13,000 pages, 47 years, more than half on variations.
  • In 8-mark answers on the Critical Edition, add the two findings and the lesson about Sanskrit texts.
  • In 'dynamic text' answers, one concrete example (Mahashweta Devi) lifts the answer.

Practice questions on The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

  1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

    How many pages did the published Critical Edition of the Mahabharata run into?
    (a) Over 1,000
    (b) Over 5,000
    (c) Over 13,000
    (d) Over 100,000

    Hint

    100,000 is the number of verses.

    Answer

    (c) Over 13,000 pages.

  2. Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

    Distinguish between the narrative and didactic sections of the Mahabharata. (2 marks)

    Hint

    Stories versus norms.

    Answer

    Narrative sections contain stories; didactic sections contain prescriptions about social norms (didactic means meant for instruction). The division is not watertight, since didactic parts include stories and the narrative often carries a social message.

  3. Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

    Why did early historians of society mislead themselves by taking Sanskrit texts at face value? (3 marks)

    Hint

    Who wrote them; what Pali and Tamil works show.

    Answer

    The Sanskrit texts were written by and for Brahmanas and laid down norms. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians assumed everything prescribed was actually practised. Later study of Pali, Prakrit and Tamil works showed that these norms, though generally recognised as authoritative, were also questioned and sometimes rejected. So texts give one perspective and must be compared with others.

  4. Q4 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

    Describe the phases in which the Mahabharata was composed. (3 marks)

    Hint

    Sutas, Brahmanas, Vishnu, didactic.

    Answer

    The original story was probably composed by sutas, charioteer-bards, and circulated orally. From the fifth century BCE Brahmanas began writing it down, as the Kuru and Panchala chiefdoms became kingdoms. Between c. 200 BCE and 200 CE, Krishna came to be identified with Vishnu, and during c. 200-400 CE long didactic passages similar to the Manusmriti were inserted, so the text grew from under 10,000 to about 100,000 verses.

  5. Q5 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

    Assertion (A): More than half of the Critical Edition's pages record variations.
    Reason (R): The Mahabharata was transmitted with enormous regional variations over the centuries.
    (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
    (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
    (c) A is true but R is false.
    (d) A is false but R is true.

    Hint

    Why so many footnotes?

    Answer

    (a) Both true; the many regional variations are why footnotes and appendices fill more than half the pages.

  6. Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

    Suppose an excavation at a site named in an epic finds only modest mud-brick houses. Should the historian reject the epic's description or the site's identification? Explain using the Hastinapura example. (3 marks)

    Hint

    Neither, necessarily.

    Answer

    Neither automatically. At Hastinapura, B.B. Lal's finds (mud, mud-brick and later burnt-brick houses, drains, ring-wells) did not match the epic's picture of a city 'bursting like the ocean'. The site's location in the Upper Ganga doab, the Kuru region, still suggests it may be the Kuru capital. The epic's description may have been added later, when cities flourished after the sixth century BCE, or may be poetic imagination. The historian keeps both possibilities open.

  7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

    How does Mahashweta Devi's 'Kunti O Nishadi' help historians think about whose voices are missing in the Sanskrit Mahabharata? (4 marks)

    Hint

    The house of lac.

    Answer

    In the Sanskrit text, a nishada woman and her five sons die in the house of lac so that the Pandavas can escape, and the text does not dwell on them. Mahashweta Devi continues the story: years later, a nishadi tells Kunti that the dead woman was her mother-in-law and that Kunti never remembered the six innocent lives lost. The retelling shows that the epic, composed largely from elite perspectives, is silent about forest people and the costs they bore; historians must look for such missing voices and read texts critically. It also shows how the epic stays dynamic.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

  1. 1.When did the Critical Edition project begin?Show answer

    1919.

  2. 2.How long did it take?Show answer

    47 years.

  3. 3.Who first composed the story, probably?Show answer

    Sutas, charioteer-bards who accompanied Kshatriya warriors.

  4. 4.What does itihasa mean?Show answer

    'Thus it was', translated as history.

  5. 5.Who excavated Hastinapura and when?Show answer

    B.B. Lal, in 1951-52.

  6. 6.Name a modern retelling of a Mahabharata episode.Show answer

    Mahashweta Devi's 'Kunti O Nishadi'.

The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata: frequently asked questions

What is the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata?

An edition prepared from 1919 to 1966 by scholars led by V.S. Sukthankar, who compared Sanskrit manuscripts from across the subcontinent, selected the verses common to most, and recorded regional variations.

Why is the Mahabharata called a dynamic text?

Because it kept growing after the Sanskrit version: written in many languages, absorbing regional stories, retold in new ways, and shown in sculpture, painting, plays and dance.

Who wrote the Mahabharata?

It was composed in phases: first by sutas (bards), then written down by Brahmanas from the fifth century BCE, with later additions. Tradition attributes it to the sage Vyasa.

What did the Critical Edition reveal?

Many common elements in Sanskrit versions from Kashmir and Nepal to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and enormous regional variations that reflect dialogue between dominant traditions and local practices.