The Illustrated Mahabharata: The Definitive Guide to India’s Greatest Epic

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I admit, it took me a while to get into the style, the way the story is broken into simple pieces, and the repetition from page to page.But by the end, I really appreciated this lesson-like approach. I had no prior knowledge of any of this material, so the simple explanatory style and the repetition really helped me. A more straight-forward narrative would have made it much harder to understand and retain the very complex relationships, personal histories and events, especially given the vast number of characters.I can see how someone could be disappointed with that approach, if they’re already familiar with the Mahabharata and wished for a deeper treatment, but surely there are other books for that.This one is a beautiful intro for someone who needs a starting point; it made me want to learn more.

As it says its the most illustrative, lots of pictures and a very detailed explanation of the greatest and the longest epic to life.

I can only assume that this book was hugely overstocked as the price was perhaps one sixth of what I would have assumed. I suggest that anyone with an interest in Indian culture snap this up. My wife, whose precedents were Indian Hindus and who is a huge fan of the Mahabharata, is absolutely fascinated with this book. BTW, check out the 2014 Mahabharata TV series. It is not available in English but it was an enormous production.

I don't know what superlatives to use for this book but what a joy it is. The content is so accurate to what Indian history and mythology has been about that to imagine the amount of research that was done is just unbelievable. The epic is presented so vividly, respectfully, and coherently that it is hard to put the book down. The book also draws or presents any life lessons from particular events in the epic as well for what they are worth. An absolute must have book for the ones interested in Indian epics. My hearty congratulations to the team for an exceptional piece of work. I wish they did something similar for Ramayana too.

My wife and I started watching recently the mahabaratha show on hotstar and decided it would be great to have a book to authenticate some of the over dramatized and overlooked events. This book is of great quality and has excellent content. Unfortunately for a book of this standard we also did notice spelling and grammatical errors which most certainly could and should be avoided.

I have always found the grand story of Hindu mythology difficult to get. Bahgadavita (a small piece) of this book of course is easy. Ramayana is just plain fun. But the big story with the characters with various symbols, very complex families, multigeneration fights, loves and so on is hard. This book is great.It has a clear text with an interesting recursive storytelling works very well.I read this right after I read Nair's Until the Lions, the voices of the women in this epic. They go well together.

This incredible book is so wonderfully detailed I felt like I was watching the old black and white 50's, 60's, and 70's movies with my first generation immigrant parents all over again. I HIGHLY recommend this book.It also looks fantastic as a centerpiece book on a coffee table.

This book is one of the best made books in my library in terms of cover, page thickness and material, and overall content. It is easy to read and understand due to the way that the content is laid out and presented. It is a great coffee table book. Very happy with this purchase.

Awesome

Fidelidade ao original, ilustrações lindas e encadernação primorosa. Parabéns!!

Very similar to its sibling- the illustrated Ramayana, this is an collection of pictures with text explanations of the various stories contained in this enormous work, called the Mahabharata.I am again reminded of Pattnaik's (beautiful) Jaya, with the same two caveats- it is a lot more pictorial (again, don't expect every page to be infused with awe-inspiring images) and it doesn't do even as much philosophical dissecting (though that is not saying much, if you are into heavy philosophy- these works are for casual philosophers like me!)Print quality- good, not great. Binding- great! Hefty book, even more than the Ramayana, but wouldn't you have expected that!!Would I buy it again if this copy somehow disappeared? Yes!

I would ignore the negative review, they obvious don’t know Mahabharata or have come across a different version. Niyoga happened, get over it. Neither is it discussed in a seedy or disrespectful way like the reviewer made it out to be. As a Hindu I didn’t find it offensive or a negative representation, because I know these things are part of the story. That negative review almost put me off buying it. I’m glad I saw through the hatred and ignorance the reviewer had for Hindu/ Santana dharma culture. If things are represented well, like in this book then they are not offensive to us.If people are complaining about repetition, then it bound to happen cause they are discussing characters who maybe be involved in the same situations. So it important to fill these gaps.Overall I’m happy with this book.

+ beautifully bound book with great pictures of existing sculptures, murals, drawings, scripts depicting the greatest epic of India+ organised in a structured manner and events penned in chronological order.+ good explanation of connections to other epics and tales ex. Ramayana.+ there's no better way to reminisce and introspect on the deep layered storytelling of Mahabharata.- some typos as other readers have expressed.- pricing. But worth buying.