MahaQuizzer was envisaged as a quiz that would test the contestant's ability to make informed guesses rather than his/her memory. It typically features 150 text-questions, which must be answered in 90 minutes. The questions normally run into several sentences and may contain clues as well as misdirections. Participants fill in their answers, and no negative marking is applied. The quiz is normally set by a team of four senior quiz-masters. Prizes are awarded to the best contestant in the School, College, Ladies and Open categories in each venue. The overall winner takes the title of Mahaquizzer and is awarded the Wing Commander G.R. Mulky Memorial Trophy for Quizzing Excellence. A list of the top 100 contestants is published.
2005
The inaugural edition was held on 12 June 2005 at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai. 335 contestants attempted the quiz. Anustup Datta, a quizzer from Bangalore, took the title in a closely fought contest. 1. Anustup Datta 60
Three new venues. 350 contestants attempted the quiz. The overall winner, across the eight venues, was the Chennai-based quizzer Swaminathan G., who appeared for the quiz from Kolkata. 1. Swaminathan G 75
was added to the list of venues in the third edition of MahaQuizzer. 426 contestants attempted the quiz. Samanth Subramanian from Chennai won the title. 1. Samanth Subramanian 71
2. Saranya Jayakumar 68
3. Swaminathan G 68
4. Jayashree Jayakar Mohanka 67
5. Anustup Datta 67
6. Shouvik Guha 66
7. Debashree Mitra 65
8. Rajiv Rai 64
9. Gopal Kidao 64
10. Vinoo Sanjay 61
2008
A new team of question-setters was nominated after the prior team announced its decision to retire. The contest was held in 9 cities on 18 May 2008. 366 contestants attempted this quiz, which was won by Arul Mani from Bangalore. 1. Arul Mani 99 2. Shouvik Guha 88 3. Anustup Datta 85 4. Rajiv Rai 81 5. Jayashree J Mohanka 81
The fifth edition of MahaQuizzer was held on 24 May 2009. The contest was extended to four new venues in India—Guwahati, Mysore, Thrissur and Panaji—and to Singapore. 715 contestants attempted the quiz. Anustup Datta, the 2005 champion, was adjudged the winner. 1. Anustup Datta 90
2. Shouvik Guha 89
3. Adittya Mubayi 88
4. Mukund Sridhar 84
5. Samanth Subramanian 84
6. Swaminathan G 83
7. Rajiv Rai 83
8. Navin Jayakumar 78
9. Aniruddha Sen Gupta 78
10. Vinoo Sanjay 77
2010
The sixth edition of MahaQuizzer was held on 30 May 2010. Coimbatore was added as a venue, bringing the number of host-cities to 14. 700 contestants attempted the quiz. Shouvik Guha of Kolkata won the 2010 title. 1. Shouvik Guha 88
The seventh edition of MahaQuizzer—put together by a new team of setters—was held on 29 May 2011. 750 contestants attempted the quiz from 14 cities across India. Arul Mani of Bangalore won the 2011 title. 1. Arul Mani 86
2. Anustup Datta 84
3. Swaminathan G. 81
4. Shouvik Guha 78
5. Srikant Parameswaran 78
6. Samanth Subramanian 78
7. Jayashree Jayakar Mohanka 76
8. Rajiv Rai 75
9. Harikrishnan Menon 73
10. Lathish V. 72
2012
The eighth edition of Mahaquizzer was held on 27 May 2012. Jayashree Jayakar Mohanka from Kolkata won, becoming the first woman contestant to win the title. 1. Jayashree Jayakar Mohanka 81
2. Adittya Nath Mubayi 74
3. G Swaminathan 71
4. Samanth Subramanian 69
5. Anustup Dutta 68
6. Ravi Mundoli 68
7. Mukund Sridhar 67
8. Saranya Jayakumar 66
9. P. Srikant 66
10. Rajiv Rai 65
2013
The ninth edition of Mahaquizzer was held on 26 May 2013. Anustup Datta from Bangalore won, becoming the first contestant to win the title three times. There was a three-way tie for the first place, which was resolved on the basis of starred questions. 1. Anustup Datta 80
