The folklores and folktales have been an eternal part of every culture since ages. When it comes to Indian folk tales, the country of diverse religions, languages and cultures has a complete range of tales and short stories. Indian folklore has a wide range of stories and mythological legends, which emerge from all walks of life. The interesting stories range from the remarkable ‘Panchatantra’ to ‘Hitopadesha’, from ‘Jataka’ to ‘Akbar-Birbal’.
Not only this, the great Indian epics like ‘Ramayana’, ‘Mahabharata’ and ‘Bhagvad Gita’ are full of didactic stories inspired from the lives of great souls. Being full of moralistic values, Indian folklore makes perfect stories for children, who are required to be, instilled with right values. All these ancient stories have been passed from generation to generation, creating bondage of traditional values with present-day generation.
The Hitopadesha is a remarkable compilation of short stories. Composed by Narayana Pandit, Hitopadesha had its origin around a thousand years ago. In Indian Literature, the Hitopadesha is regarded more or less similar to the Panchatantra. In the vein of Panchatantra, the Hitopadesa was also written in Sanskrit and following the pattern of prose and verse. Hitopadesh tales are written in reader-friendly way, which also contributed to the success of this best seller after ‘Bhagwad Gita’ in India. Since its origin, Hitopadesa has been translated into numerous languages to benefit the readers all over the world.
In 300 B.C, the Jataka Tales were written for the mankind to gain knowledge and morality. Ever since, Jataka tales have become story books that are both enjoyable as well as knowledgeable. Originally written in Pali language, Jataka Buddhist tales have been translated in different languages around the world. The luminous fables of ‘Jataka’ are intended to impart values of self-sacrifice, morality, honesty and other informative values to people.
The Panchatantra is a legendary collection of short stories from India. Originally composed in the 2nd century B.C, Panchatantra is believed to be written by Vishnu Sharma along with many other scholars. The purpose behind the composition was to implant moral values and governing skills in the young sons of the king. The ancient Sanskrit text boasts of various animal stories in verse and prose. During all these centuries, many authors and publishers worked hard to make these fables accessible and readable by a layman. The grand assortment has extraordinary tales that are liked, perhaps even loved by people of every age group.
