Rigveda

About the Rigveda

The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest known religious texts in the world, composed roughly between 1500–1200 BCE. It contains 1,028 hymns (suktas) organised into 10 Mandalas (books), addressed to deities such as Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Soma. The founding Rishis of most Rigveda-affiliated Gotras were the composers of these hymns — for example, Rishi Bharadwaja composed Mandala VI, and Rishi Vashishtha composed Mandala VII. The Rigveda forms the liturgical foundation for the Hotri priest in the Vedic sacrifice.