Background: The indigenous rice varieties of India are cultivated and utilized by tribal peoples as well as people in the distant regions with traditional culture. The main aim of the research work was to explore the inherit beneficial characteristics of traditional rice cultivars over hybrid varieties. Methods: The research work was aimed to investiagate the physicochemical and phytochemicals characteristics in traditional red rice cultivars (Mapillai Samba and Karungkuruvai) and traditional white rice cultivars (IR 20 and Improved White Ponni). The different treatments used in the study were raw rice (unpolished, polished) and parboiled rice (unpolished, polished). The interaction between physicochemical characteristics and phytochemicals were evaluated using Pearson correlation and Principal component analysis. Result: The physicochemical characteristics were analyzed for all the rice cultivars. It was observed that parboiled-unpolished mapillai samba showed highest length, breadth, 1000 grain weight. The raw rice cultivars showed highest phytochemicals than parboiled rice. The total phenolic, total flavonoids and total anthocyanin contents were highest for the mapillai samba (raw rice-unpolished). Among different traditional rice cultivars, mapillai samba showed significantly higher antioxidant levels. The results of the study suggested that these traditional rice cultivars can be incorporated in value added products.