What is taught, and how it survives.

Rigveda

The oldest collection: 1,028 hymns of praise. The Shakala branch is the one still recited.

26 schools in this directory teach it.

Yajurveda

Formulas for the ritual. Taught in two great streams: Krishna (Black), mostly the Taittiriya branch, and Shukla (White), in the Madhyandina and Kanva branches.

76 schools in this directory teach it.

Samaveda

The Rigveda set to melody. The Kauthuma, Ranayaniya and Jaiminiya branches survive, each with its own way of singing.

23 schools in this directory teach it.

Atharvaveda

Hymns for daily life, healing and the home. The Shaunaka branch is recited; the Paippalada survives in a few families in Odisha.

16 schools in this directory teach it.

What a shakha is

• A shakha (branch) is a recension of a Veda: one family's or school's exact version of the text, with its own wording, accent marks and ritual manuals.
• Each Veda once had many shakhas. Only a handful survive as living recitation traditions, and Veda schools are organised around them.
• Students learn a single shakha by heart, starting with the basic continuous text (samhita) and moving to word-by-word and interwoven recitations (such as pada, krama and ghana) that guard against error.

Sources: MSRVVP: Admissions and shakha pages · Raja Veda Kavya Patasala: Vedic School · Chinna Jeeyar Vedic Schools: Our Vedic Schools

Rigveda: Shakala

• Shakala is the only Rigveda branch named in the government lists used for this directory.
• MSRVVP has a dedicated academic page for it, and TTD teaches it at Dharmagiri and Ai. Bhimavaram.
• Official lists show it taught from Kerala and Tamil Nadu to Varanasi, Ghaziabad and Rajasthan.

Sources: MSRVVP: Admissions and shakha pages · TTD: S.V. Veda Patasalas admission notification 2019-20 · Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Rigveda

Krishna (Black) Yajurveda: Taittiriya and Maitrayani

• Taittiriya is the Yajurveda branch most often listed for schools in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• Maitrayani survives in very few hands. TTD offers it as a 7-year course at Dharmagiri, and Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji's Veda Bhavanam in Karimnagar teaches it to a current batch, calling it a very rare Veda.

Sources: MSRVVP: Admissions and shakha pages · TTD: S.V. Veda Patasalas admission notification 2019-20 · Chinna Jeeyar Vedic Schools: Vedabhavan, Karimnagar · Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Yajurveda

Shukla (White) Yajurveda: Madhyandina and Kanva

• Madhyandina is the branch most often listed for schools in North, Central and Eastern India, Maharashtra and the North East.
• Kanva is listed at several schools in Odisha (Puri, Brahmapur, Keonjhar) and at some in Maharashtra and the South, including TTD schools and Kumbakonam.
• MSRVVP has separate academic pages for both branches.

Sources: MSRVVP: Admissions and shakha pages · Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Yajurveda · TTD: S.V. Veda Patasalas admission notification 2019-20

Samaveda: Kauthuma, Ranayaniya and Jaiminiya

• Kauthuma is the most widely taught Samaveda branch, found from Tamil Nadu to Prayagraj, Ghaziabad and Rajasthan.
• Ranayaniya is taught at TTD schools in Vizianagaram and Ai. Bhimavaram and is listed at some schools in Maharashtra, Varanasi and Rajasthan.
• Jaiminiya is offered by TTD at Dharmagiri and Vizianagaram.

Sources: TTD: S.V. Veda Patasalas admission notification 2019-20 · Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Samaveda · Sringeri Sharada Peetham: Allahabad (Prayag) branch

Atharvaveda: Shaunaka and Paippalada

• Shaunaka is the usual Atharvaveda branch, taught for example at TTD Dharmagiri and Ai. Bhimavaram, the Sringeri Math pathashala in Prayagraj and JIVA.
• Paippalada is much rarer. The Ministry of Culture's Vedic Heritage Portal lists it at Brahmapur in Odisha and at a few schools in Varanasi, Chitrakoot and Rajasthan.

Sources: TTD: S.V. Veda Patasalas admission notification 2019-20 · Sringeri Sharada Peetham: Allahabad (Prayag) branch · Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Atharvaveda

Where to find each branch in this directory

• Each school listing shows the Vedas and shakhas only when an official source names them. A blank list means the source did not say, not that nothing is taught.
• Branch details for many schools come from a 2014 government list, so check with the school that a branch is still offered before applying.

Sources: Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Rigveda · Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Yajurveda · Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Samaveda · Vedic Heritage Portal (IGNCA): Schools of Vedic Learning, Atharvaveda · MSRVVP: Shri Manik Prabhu Veda Pathashala teacher advertisement (2020)