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
The Three Calamities
Minister Bodhaditya hears Kali weep over three threats to the king; he averts arrows, poisoned rice, and a serpent, then proves loyalty.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Three Deaf Men
A deaf husband, his deaf wife and a deaf shepherd talk at cross purposes over cabbage and a lost cow, until a sharp stranger walks off with the calf.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Monkey with the Tom-tom
A crafty monkey loses the tip of his tail, then swaps and tricks his way from a razor to firewood to puddings and finally to a drum he loves to beat.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Mother and the Daughter Who Worshipped the Sun
Sent from home after giving half her mother’s cake to a hungry priest, a poor girl marries a prince and begs the Sun to help when her secret comes out.
Jataka Tales
The Pigeon and the Crow
A crow befriends a pigeon to reach the kitchen's fish, then fakes illness to stay behind. His theft leads to a cruel punishment and death while the pigeon leaves.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Poisoned Food
A young pilgrim shares rice with a starving elder; serpent venom from a kite’s meal kills the old man, and villagers blame the helper.
Indian Folk Tales
The Prince and the Fakir
A childless king is promised two sons by a wandering fakir, on one condition: when the boys are born, the fakir will come back and take one of them away.
Indian Folk Tales
The Rat’s Wedding
A Rat's helpful gifts become ever larger demands until he claims a human bride. Her return to her family ends his boasts with a cruel punishment.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Lambikin
Tiny Lambikin promises hungry beasts he will fatten at Granny’s, rides home inside a drumikin, then meets a Jackal who knows his voice.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Legend of Gwashbrari, the Glacier-Hearted Queen
Proud Westarwan, king of the Kashmir mountains, never looks down at the world, until icy Gwashbrari vows to make him bow to her before sunrise.
Panchatantra Stories
Ages 6-8
The Lion and the Crane
A white crane pulls a stuck bone out of a lion's throat, propping his jaws open with a stick, then asks what thanks he will get for saving the king of beasts.
Indian Folk Tales
The Lord of Death
An old traveler follows a shape-changing bringer of death through several fatal encounters, but its final explanation leaves him—and the reader—with an unanswered question.