Devon Ke Dev... Mahadev (Template:Lang-eng) is a mythological drama series based on the legends of Shiva, also known as Mahadev. It premiered on 18 December 2011 and is being aired on the Indian television channel Life OK.
| Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev | |
|---|---|
| File:Logo of Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev.jpg Image Of Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev | |
| Genre | Mythological Drama Spiritual Drama |
| Created by | Life OK |
| Written by | Utkarsh Naithani and Mihir Bhuta |
| Directed by | Nikhil Sinha Manish Singh |
| Creative director | Aniruddh Pathak |
| Starring | See Below |
| Opening theme | Shiv Shiv |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Hindi |
| No. of seasons | 01 |
| No. of episodes | 365 as on 29th March 2013 |
| Production | |
| Cinematography | Deepak Garg Amit Malvia |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | approx. 20 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Life OK |
| Release | 18 December 2011 – Present |
The drama, inspired by the works of renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, has been researched by him and scripted by Utkarsh Naithani and Mihir Bhuta.The show has been dubbed in malayalam and telugu with titles Kailasnathan and Hara Hara Mahadeva,respectively .The malayalam series airs every monday to friday at 10:00p.m [IST] on Asianet.The series aired first on 26th november 2012 with a huge popular response and TRPs.The telugu series airs every monday to friday at 5:00 p.m on MAA TV and garners high TRPs as well.
Plot
Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev is a television series based on legends featuring the Hindu God Shiva, also knows as Mahadev (the great god). The show narrates the most famous of these legends, sourced from the Puranas and the work of well known mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik,in an episodic fashion.
The story starts with the tale of Shiva's marriage with Sati. Sati is a partial incarnation of the Supreme Goddess and is born as the daughter of Prajapati Daksha, who is a staunch devotee of Vishnu. She is drawn towards Shiva against the will of her father. Shiva and Sati get married and start living in Kailash. Soon after Daksha organises a yajna where all the gods except for Shiva are invited. Sati is distraught as this slight, and against Shiva's wishes, journeys to her parental home to question her father. Daksha, drunk on his own power and piety insults Shiva in front of Sati. Torn with remorse on having ignored her divine husband's wishes Sati gives up her body in the fires which emanate from her own body - pranagni. The grief-striken Shiva produces an aaveshavatar an incarnation of a fierce moodVirabhadra, who slays Daksha. Later, on hearing the prayers of Daksha's wife he restores Daksha's life. A distraught Shiva leaves with burnt corpse of Sati and wanders around the universe. Vishnu with the use of his divine discus dismembers the body into pieces, scattering them on earth. Shiva transforms the pieces into Shakti Peethas, embodiments of the power of the Goddess Adi Shakti.
After an age, during which Shiva plunges into austere tapas, Sati is reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Himavan, king of the Himalayas and Mainavati. She is also the sister of the river-goddess, Ganga. Parvati is raised in the hermitage of the Shaivite sage Dadhichi, who instructs her. As Parvati matures, she is captivated by the thought of attaining Shiva himself as her husband. Gradually the memory of her previous birth as Sati awakens in her; and she undertakes the most severe of austerities to please Shiva. He is appeased and they are married in the presence of all the gods and goddesses.
Kartikeya is born to Shiva and Parvati. The gods are pleased because it is Kartikeya who is destined to slay their arch foe, the demon Tarakasura and his brothers. Kartikeya is also nominated for the throne of the King of Devas but Shiva asks Indra to continue as the king. After this Kartikeya is sent to the Dakshin (south) where he is cared for by Meenakshi and here he slays the demon (asura), Tripath with her help.
The narrative also relates the destruction of the demon Tripura, by Shiva who is also called Tripurari. But just before the destruction of the Tripurasura, the little known legend of the birth of Shiva and Parvati's daughter, Ashoksundari has been included in the series.
On destroying Tripurasura, Shiva is praised by all the sages and gods except for Indra. Rishi Durvasa offers Shiva a special garland, which Shiva presents to Narada as prasadam. Narada, in his turn, offers the holy garland to Indra who, accepts the garland by placing it on the trunk of his tusker, Airavata; intoxicated by the fumes, Airavata tosses the garland and tramples it. This enrages the sage Durvasa and he curses Indra that all the gods will soon be bereft of all wealth and fortune. Not long after, to avenge the death of Tripurasura the demon king Bali attacks heaven and attempts to steal Amrita (the nectar of immortality). But it falls into the Ocean of milk. To regain the Amrita the defeated Devas are advised to join hands with the Asuras and churn the ocean.
The churning of the ocean is known as Samudra Manthan and is an elaborate process. In the process the Devas employ crafts to disadvantage the Asuras in many ways. Lord Vishnu comes to the aid of the gods and incarnates as a giant turtle, Kurma.
A myriad range of objects emanate from the churning of the ocean of milk. The very first is the lethal poison known as Halahala. Its presence puts the world at great risk. Shiva drinks the poison to save the universe from certain destruction, but Parvati comes to his rescue by pressing his neck to stop the poison from spreading. As a result, Shiva's neck sports an eternal blue patch and so he is called Nilkanth (The Blue-Throated One). The churning reveals many precious treasures, such as the Goddess of Wealth herself Lakshmi, who becomes the consort of Vishnu, the divine nymphs, many celestial animals etc. Finally, the divine physician Dhanvantari emerges carrying the vessel which contains the nectar. He is chased by the demons and gods until Vishnu cunningly cons the demons and distributes the nectar among the gods.
The narrative next shows us a grown up Kartikeya, who is no longer Senapati (head of the army), much to Indra's pleasure. Kartikeya journeys to the north and meets a grown-up Ashoksundari, as well as his parents. He instructs Ashoksundari on meditation techniques and, inspired, she retires to a life of meditation, much to Parvati's sadness.
As the ages pass, the darkness of the world increases. After the holy woman Ahilya is seduced by Indra, Parvati decides to give birth to the god of auspiciousness - Ganesh. Shiva is lost in his meditation hence Parvati does not disturb him with this decision. Once, she decided to perform a puja in a cave in Kailash with some other women, and she requests Ganesh to stand on guard outside and not allow anyone to enter within. The Devas and sages, who have assembled outside to gain an audience with the divine mother Parvati are refused by the child Ganesh. Infuriated by his apparent impertinence they battle him, but are roundly defeated. Finally, Shiva himself comes to meet Parvati but is bluntly refused entrance by Ganesh. An enraged Mahadev cuts off his head with his trident. At the commotion Parvati comes out and is stricken with the turn of events. She tells Shiva the truth of the situation and pleads for her son's life. Shiva fixes the head of an elephant calf on to the boy's torso as a fulfillment of a boon given to a devout elephant years ago.
Kartikeya returns to Kailash, and is given a warm welcome by his family.
The narrative continues with sundry tales such as Ganesh's fight with the sage Parashurama; the resolution of the question of who is to be worshipped first among gods; etc.After a leap the tale lands upon the story of Ashoksundari's marriage with Nahush. Meanwhile when Parvati insists, Shiva permits to build a house on Kailash. Kartikeya and Ganesha leave for journey to find the most appropriate house for Kailash. In the mean time Ashoksundari meets Nahush at Rishi Vashishta's ashram,where in he is completing his studies.On knowing this,Asura Hunda attacks the rishi's ashram.A horrified Ashoksundari screams for her mother and as a result Parvati takes on the Kali avatar. She saves her daughter and is later pacified by Mahadeva's Batuk avatar.After this parvati with her yogic powers makes Nahush older for his safety from Hunda.
Cast
Awards
| Year | Awards Event | Category | Nominees | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 5th Boroplus Gold Awards | Most Fit Actor | Mohit Raina | Nominated |
| Most Fit Actress | Mouni Roy | Nominated | ||
| 2013 | BIG Star Entertainment Awards | Most Entertaining TV Actor(Male) | Mohit Raina | Won |
| Most Entertaining TV Show(Fiction) | Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev | Nominated |
Music
The background score of the show is very much appreciated. For the first 140 episodes, music was composed by Sandeep Mukherjee, Kartik, and the Bawra brothers, Inder and Sunny. Sandeep Mukherjee composed music for the next few episodes after which the Bawra brothers were chosen to compose music for the remainder of the series. The well known Pakhawaj player, singer and composer Pandit Bhavani Shankar recorded an original composition for the Tandav sequence shown after Sati's demise.
Production
Ritoo Jenjani, who has worked in Kamal Hassan's Tamil film Vishwaroopam, has done the prosthetic makeup for the presentation of Kali.
Reception
The show is currently on air. It is a very popular show among masses of all age groups. The show and its cast has a huge fan base and garners high TRPs. It is now a competition for all the prime time shows. The episode of 9th September, 2012, featuring Kali killing the demon Raktabij earned the highest TRP ever, since the show's commencement in 2011. As per TAM ratings, this special episode of the show recorded a 8.2 TVR.
DVD Release
The official DVD version of the series has been released by Ultra Distributors, one of the leading home video distribution companies in India. Its a set of 10 DVDs, containing all the episodes up to the Mahadev-Parvati wedding. It is in 5.1 Dolby Digital format and included English subtitles. Along with Ultra Distributors, the DVD set is available for purchasing online, on the leading shopping sites. The marketing of the DVD's are going well and gaining popularity, according to the sales of the leading shopping sites and the number of sets sold.