India
Explore stories associated with Indian traditions, including the Panchatantra, Jataka narratives and regional collections. A tale’s setting, the place where a version was recorded and the history of its publication are different kinds of evidence. Read the source note for the connection supported on each page.
219 stories are in this region right now.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
How Raja Rasalu Journeyed to the City of King Sarkap
Sheltering from a storm in an old graveyard, Rasalu talks all night with a headless ghost, who warns him how King Sarkap cheats at dice and how to beat him.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
How Raja Rasalu Killed the Giants
In Nila city Rasalu meets a weeping mother whose last son is due to be handed to the giants, and he rides off in the young man’s place to face them himself.
Indian Folk Tales
How Raja Rasalu Played Chaupur with King Sarkap
Rasalu stakes his armour, his horse and his own head in a game against a cheating king, and a kitten he rescued from a potter’s kiln helps turn the tables.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
How Raja Rasalu Swung the Seventy Fair Maidens, Daughters of the King
A rescued cricket helps Rasalu separate millet from sand. His next encounter with Sarkap's daughters turns violent before poisoned food reveals the king's treachery.
Indian Folk Tales
How Raja Rasalu Was Born
Puran returns after his father's brutal punishment and confronts Queen Lona. His promise of a son is followed by a separate prophecy that shapes Rasalu's hidden childhood.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
How Raja Rasalu Went Out into the World
Rasalu leaves his underground home a year early, damages the townspeople's water pots and misreads his frightened father's silence before a painful farewell.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
How the Raja’s Son Won the Princess Labam
Grateful ants and tigers, stolen magical objects and Labam's own advice help a prince face her father's changing, deadly marriage tests.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
How the Wicked Sons Were Duped
An old father whose greedy sons treat him badly gets help from a wise friend, whose clever trick with four heavy bags soon changes how the sons behave.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Jackal, the Barber and the Brahmin Who Had Seven Daughters
A deceitful jackal becomes a Brahmin's son-in-law and offers magical gifts that others seize. The youngest daughter twice discovers what appearances conceal.
Indian Folk Tales
Jackal or Tiger?
A king banishes his queen over a silly quarrel about a howl in the night, and years later the son raised in the forest comes to his court as a servant.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Dorani
A prince marries the golden-haired Dorani, who will not say a word to him and leaves every night, so he makes himself invisible to discover her secret.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Eating Up the Protector
A snake threatens the Brahmin who rescues it, then reconsiders before he returns. A king uses the tale to recognize his own ingratitude.