Published Paper Details:

The Mahabharata myth has spread across most regions of India in various versions and variations. The epic Mahabharata is presented as a local myth reflecting the cultural elements of the respective region by mixing with the local cultural elements or absorbing the local cultural elements into itself at the regional level. In that sense, the Mahabharata myth has had an impact on the folk worship system in Tamil Nadu. Draupadi Amman worship is a widely performed folk form of worship in north Tamil Nadu. The cult of Draupadi is performed by the performing arts known as "Therukoothu" and by the rituals of "Aravan Sacrifice" and the "Navadhania seedling". According to MN Srinivasan, "Contrary to the claim that folk deities become sanskritic and become classical deities, worship of draupadi came from a classical character in the folk tradition. The scholar Alf Hiltebeitil, who studied the worship of Draupadi, called Draupadi worship a part of Hinduism. But the rituals performed in the worship of Draupadi Amman are agrarian rituals. The story of The Mahabharata, which took place in the North Indian region, became the deity of a particular ethnic group in Tamil Nadu, the worship practices of Draupadi character of Mahabharata and the impact of the story of Mahabharata on Tamil society are discussed in this paper.