James Hegarty is Senior Lecturer in Indian Religions at Cardiff University, UK. His primary research interest is in the role of religious narrative in the cultural and intellectual history of South Asia. He has published numerous papers on Sanskrit and vernacular narrative materials.

• 1. Introduction 2. Ritual, Text and Modernity in the Sanskrit Mahabharata 3. Constructing the Significant Past 4. Constructing Significant Places 5. The Mahabharata in early South Asia 6. Conclusions: Towards an Old Orientation to Philology 7. Epilogue: The Construction of the Significant Past in the Hindi Televisual Mahabharat

James Hegarty is Senior Lecturer in Indian Religions at Cardiff University, UK. His primary research interest is in the role of religious narrative in the cultural and intellectual history of South Asia. He has published numerous papers on Sanskrit and vernacular narrative materials.

• 1. Introduction 2. Ritual, Text and Modernity in the Sanskrit Mahabharata 3. Constructing the Significant Past 4. Constructing Significant Places 5. The Mahabharata in early South Asia 6. Conclusions: Towards an Old Orientation to Philology 7. Epilogue: The Construction of the Significant Past in the Hindi Televisual Mahabharat

James Hegarty is Senior Lecturer in Indian Religions at Cardiff University, UK. His primary research interest is in the role of religious narrative in the cultural and intellectual history of South Asia. He has published numerous papers on Sanskrit and vernacular narrative materials.

• 1. Introduction 2. Ritual, Text and Modernity in the Sanskrit Mahabharata 3. Constructing the Significant Past 4. Constructing Significant Places 5. The Mahabharata in early South Asia 6. Conclusions: Towards an Old Orientation to Philology 7. Epilogue: The Construction of the Significant Past in the Hindi Televisual Mahabharat