In a kingdom ravaged by famine, King Vikramaditya faces a desperate choice. The fabled Tandava flower, rumored to possess the power to restore life to the land, lies hidden within the treacherous Tandava Forest. Guarded by mythical beasts and shrouded in ancient riddles, the flower can only be retrieved by a king willing to face a terrifying challenge – a bargain with a powerful Vetal spirit. Join Vikramaditya and his loyal bodyguard Bhairava on a perilous quest through fantastical landscapes. As they battle fire-breathing wyverns, climb treacherous mountains guarded by moonlit creatures, and confront the Vetal's cunning riddles, the fate of the kingdom hangs in the balance. But Vikramaditya soon discovers that bargains with spirits come at a heavy price. His sacrifice awakens the flower, bringing life back to the land, but sets the Vetal free. Will the kingdom be saved from starvation, or has Vikramaditya unleashed a new and even greater threat? The King's Bargain is a thrilling fantasy adventure filled with heart-pounding action, cunning riddles, and the moral weight of desperate choices. Perfect for fans of epic quests, mythical creatures, and stories that explore the consequences of sacrifice. Dive into this captivating tale and discover if Vikramaditya's courage and resourcefulness can save his kingdom from the shadows lurking in the moonlight.

The all-time loved collection of Hindu tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance. Top popular series of Vikrarm-Betal tales now in English

Age old stories of Vikram and Vetal. The tales are retold in a short story/novel way.

‘If you know the answer and do not respond, your head will shatter into pieces!’ In a land of glorious kings, bloodthirsty demons and talking spirits, was born the lore of Vikram and the Vetal. After a series of mysterious events, King Vikramaditya carries the vetal, a witty ghost, on a long journey through death's playground. The vetal narrates the most fascinating tales and asks the most puzzling riddles, leaving Vikram completely stumped. Deepa Agarwal's beautiful translation brings age-old wisdom alive through the vetal's wondrous stories that are bound to confound and captivate readers even today.

A poor little girl is rewarded with lovely gifts when she feeds a hungry bird all the rice she has. What happens when the girl’s greedy, nosy neighbour hears the story and tries to get better gifts for herself? Why did the once sweet sea water turn salty? How did the learned teacher forget his lessons only to be aided by the school cook? And how did the king hide his horrible donkey ears from the people of his kingdom? For answers to all this and more, delve right into another fabulous collection of stories by Sudha Murty.

A young girl’s father goes missing A strange old man insists on his storytelling An ancient throne reveals forgotten tales When Upa's father gets kidnapped from the tiny village where he was working, she and her mother move to her great-grandmother's house in a small town, to recover from the shock. There the dejected and worried mother and daughter are befriended by an odd-looking stranger who insists on telling them stories of King Vikramaditya and his long-lost throne. As Upa and her mother listen to these magical stories they begin to see the goodness in the people around them and recognize the relevance of the tales of King Vikramaditya in their lives today. Funny yet thought-provoking, Poile Sengupta's retelling of these ancient stories makes them come alive like never before.

'This riddle can end in two ways: speech and defeat, or silence and death.' Vetaal and Vikram is a playful retelling of one of India's most celebrated cycles of stories. The narrative of King Vikram and the Vetaal is located within the Kathasaritsagara, an eleventh-century Sanskrit text. The Vetaal who is neither living nor dead is a consummate storyteller, and Vikram is a listener who can neither speak nor stay silent. Together they are destined to walk a labyrinth of stories in the course of a moonless night in a cremation ground. In 1870, eleven of the Vetaal's stories were adapted to English by the famed scholar-explorer Richard Francis Burton who tailored them to his audience's gothic taste. Vetaal and Vikram is a contemporary response that includes Burton within its storytelling folds. Fantastical and delightful, this retelling dissolves the lines between speaker and listener, desire and duty, life and death.

The "Vikram Betal" stories are adventurous and full of the fascinating tales, the puzzles of Betal and answers by Vikrama do interestingly help to learn about good moral values!These stories were written nearly 2,500 years ago by Mahakavi Somdev Bhatt. These are spellbinding stories told to the wise King Vikramaditya by the wily ghost Betal. Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were all alone in a temple. At that time, Parvati after salutations to Lord Shiva requested My Dear Lord! Please tell me some puzzle stories that were never heard by anyone in this world.Lord Shiva said, "Listen. I will tell you some strange stories according to your wish. These plots are not known to anyone in this world." Then, he continued telling her many stories. Exactly at the time, Lord Shiva was narrating the strange stories to Goddess Parvati but Betal, who came for offerings, listened to all the narrations of Lord Shiva. Goddess Parvati came to know of these stories popular on earth. She immediately rushed to Lord Shiva and angrily told him, "My Lord! You promised me to tell tales unknown to others and narrated me all the tales that are widely popular on the earth."Lord Shiva in a wink knew about Betal, a Shaivaite Deity, Shri Dev Vetoba, and also known as Vetal, the king of ghosts had told these stories to his devotees and soon spreading all over as these stories are full of adventure, mystery, and intrigue and will cling to the heart and mind help interestingly to learn about good moral Values!! Lord Shiva ordered, "Hi, Betal! I am admonishing you to turn into a celestial spirit to be retold with your wise puzzles to King Vikramaditya, who would answer them with wisdom. Now, you must bring each story to life, hanging upside down as a ghost!"Betal on hearing the wish of Lord Shiva prayed, "Oh God of Gods! Parama Shiva! Please tell me how I can be relived." Lord Shiva told him, "King Vikrama takes birth on earth, and would come to you following a request of an Aghori. You narrate him all the stories you knew. You will go free, as soon as you finish them. Thou shall be worshipped as Lord Betal for protection from ghosts in Konkan area."At once, Betal turned as a ghost and started living on a dense tree in a forest. He gave life to each of the adventurous 25 stories with authenticity! The stories thus narrate by Betal, the Betal forms an interesting series of fairy tales.Now each story brought to life with authenticity and fully illustrated with licensed 32 color images.The main purpose of these stories is to illustrate the generous deeds of a model king and emphasize moral lessons. In this light they are didactic, but in their ingenious plots, dramatic situations, portrayal of real life and correct appraisal of human character, they are superb. As a reader can easily notice, human nature has not changed a whit even after thousand years.These will helps young readers become enthusiastic learner, confident reader, writer, and speaker. If your child enjoys stories then this is one of the ideal picks for them.These spellbinding stories themselves ranged from silly riddles to philosophical and moral dilemmas to questions of royal judgment and interestingly will help to learn about good moral values!!These are highly suitable for making movies, television serials and Web Series, which the viewers would love to chew, digest and remember for ages with wonder!

First published in 1965, The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India in Historical Outline is a strikingly original work, the first real cultural history of India. The main features of the Indian character are traced back into remote antiquity as the natural outgrowth of historical process. Did the change from food gathering and the pastoral life to agriculture make new religions necessary? Why did the Indian cities vanish with hardly a trace and leave no memory? Who were the Aryans – if any? Why should Buddhism, Jainism, and so many other sects of the same type come into being at one time and in the same region? How could Buddhism spread over so large a part of Asia while dying out completely in the land of its origin? What caused the rise and collapse of the Magadhan empire; was the Gupta empire fundamentally different from its great predecessor, or just one more ‘oriental despotism’? These are some of the many questions handled with great insight, yet in the simplest terms, in this stimulating work. This book will be of interest to students of history, sociology, archaeology, anthropology, cultural studies, South Asian studies and ethnic studies.