Podcasts of the Mahabharata is presented by Chennai-based, G. Kameshwar – who is a travel writer and poet. Taking cue from the ancient Hindu story telling tradition, Sri Kameshwar has narrated the Mahabharat and you can now download the audio in mp3 files from the website of the Charsur Arts Foundation. The audio is not free – each episode costs Rupees 95/-, which goes towards a charity for children with special needs. But you can download the prelude to Bheeshma Parva for free. This is the prelude before the Kurukshetra war begins.
You can download the free prelude to Bheeshma Parva here at Charsur Arts Foundation.You can read the blog of Sri G. Kameshwar here - Kameshwar
So why did Sri G. Kameshwar start with the podcasts with the Great Kurukshetra war instead of the original beginning?
“I decided to begin with the war because that's what the Mahabharata is essentially about; you have every character out on the battlefield, and there is so much drama, from the highest philosophy to the lowest treachery,” he says.
Proceeds from these sales go, as with all Kameshwar's creative endeavours, towards Rasa, the charity for children with special needs founded by his wife Ambika Kameshwar. For some years now, CDs of his storytelling sessions have been given to donors at Rasa, and it was through one of them that the idea for these podcasts came about.
The podcasts, available on the website of the Charsur Arts Foundation, are recordings of the Mahabharata storytelling sessions Kameshwar has been conducting week after week for the last eight years. “There are over 300 hours of recordings — one hour a week, 40 weeks a year, since 2002,” he says with a smile.