The Rig Veda holds a significant place among the ancient scriptures of the Hindu tradition. It is the earliest of the four Vedas and serves as a crucial text in the religious and cultural heritage of India. Composed in the Vedic language, which later evolved into classical Sanskrit, the Rig Veda is a collection of hymns dedicated to various deities and recited during sacred rituals.

Organized into ten books called maṇḍalas, the Rig Veda consists of 1028 hymns. Each maṇḍala contains sūktas, which are hymns composed of individual strophes known as ṛc or ric. The name "Rig Veda" itself refers to the collection of these hymns. This ancient text is considered one of the oldest surviving works in any Indo-European language, and it is believed to have originated in the region of present-day Pakistan between 1500 and 1200 BCE.

The manuscript of the Rig Veda, written on coarse paper by different scribes, represents the Padapātha version. This version preserves the word-by-word recitation of the hymns. The manuscript is adorned with accentuation marks in red, indicating three main accents: udātta (acute), anudātta (unmarked low), and svarita (grave accent). These marks play a vital role in the rhythmic and melodic rendition of the hymns during chanting and recitation.