For the first time in 50 years, the ASI is excavating Govardhan Hill, part of the Braj region that also includes Mathura, Vrindavan, and other key sites mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

Begin at the beginning: "The Mahabharata" is the longest — at 1.8 million words gathered into couplets — and among the oldest recorded epic cycles in human history. One of the two primary ...