Age-old stories, drawn from popular and marginal sources, gently question rigid notions about myths. Through pictures and words, these retold stories encourage different ways of seeing and understanding. They carry forward the spirit of oral storytelling and show how myths change, and still endure.
Drums beating, cymbals clashing, trumpets blowing… the town of Puri by the sea is festive. It is the day of the temple Ratha Jatra and Pria wonders why the idols of Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balabhadra are unlike any other gods she has seen. Some say that’s how Jagannatha looked when he lived deep in the forest, her grandmother tells her. And so starts off...
Storytellers Pappuram and Kojaram have their own stories about why Ganesha is worshipped first. They open their kaavads, the storytelling boxes, and begin — and finally realise that the stories may be different, but they're essentially still the same! A comment on the nature of myths.
The quiet villages of Sundarban are terrorised by a monster — Dokkhin Rai! Until finally, Bon Bibi, protector of the forests, asks him a simple question: Why do you do this?
Valmiki has competition from Hanuman who, Narad says, has written a better Ramayan. Quirky illustrations adapted from Mithila folk paintings tell their own story.
Vyasa enlists Ganesha's help to write down the massive Mahabharata epic — at a price. Delighful pictures enable a new generation to connect to an old story, differently.
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