Folktales as we all know are traditional tales. A folktale is a simple timeless story that deals with the customs, traditions and beliefs of the ordinary people. It is a narrative form of an epic, legend, myth, fable, fairy tales ghost stories etc that is retold to every new generation. These are stories which pass through word of mouth.
Folktales have been an eternal part of Indian culture since ages. India being a land of diverse cultures, languages, dialects and religions, there are a wide range of tales and short stories emerging from different walks of life. Many of these stories are based on mythological legends and epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagvad Gita full of didactic stories inspired from lives from great souls.
Most of these ancient Indian stories are full of moral values and thus are perfect for children who have to be taught and instilled with the values to shape their future. The interesting stories range from the remarkable ‘Panchatantra’ to ‘Hitopadesha’, from ‘Jataka’ to ‘Akbar-Birbal’.
Hitopadesha
The Hitopadesha- originated around a thousand years ago is a remarkable compilation of short stories. It is composed by Narayana Pandit, In Indian Literature, the Hitopadesha is regarded more or less similar to the Panchatantra It was written in Sanskrit and had a pattern of prose and verse. They are written in simple easy to understand language and have also been translated in numerous languages for readers all round the world.
Jakata Tales
The Jataka Tales were written in 300 BC for the mankind to gain knowledge and morality. Since then they have been developed into enjoyable and knowledgeable stories These Buddhist tales were originally written in Pali language and were later translated into 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.
Panchatantra Tales
Panchatantra are one of the legendary and popular short stories from India composed in 2nd century BC. These tales are the result of the joint efforts of Vishnu Sharma along with many other scholars. Like Jataka, the purpose behind the creation of Panchatantra was also to instill moral values and governing skills in the youth of that era. These tales too followed the pattern of prose and verse. Written in Sanskrit, the Panchatantra tales boasts of various animal stories. The grand collection has many extraordinary stories that are loved by people of every age group.
Indian folktales are a part of the oral storytelling tradition. In fact it has been the most popular way of spreading awareness in ancient India and has also been used by religious Gurus; like Gautama Buddha, Mahavira, Sai Baba to enlighten their deciples. The diversity of cultures is very well reflected in the folk tales as well as each state or region have their own set of tales based on courage, friendship, good deeds performed by people etc. Gradually with time as the publishing tradition has caught on most of these tales have been printed as books. Folk tales have been a great tool to imbibe and inculcate values and morals in children over several years now and create a bondage to the great Indian tradition.
