151 Indian Mythological Stories

The joyous shout of Rama’s army was enough to convince Ravana of Meghnath’s death. Breaking down in his huge chamber, Ravana felt his defeat was near. Yet, he had to fight on. Lonely, he prepared for the battle ahead. Ravana mounted his chariot and went to the battlefield. He stood face to face with Rama. […]

One day, sage Narada went to Lord Vishnu and asked him who his favourite devotee was. He had thought that the Lord would say his name. But the Lord said that there was a farmer on earth who was his favourite devotee. Sage Narada was upset and decided to test the farmer. He went to

Once, there lived a man called Susharma. He was born in a Brahmin family but was a sinful man. He always enjoyed hurting others. One day, Susharma entered the garden of a sage to disturb him during his prayers. There, a snake bit him and he died. Because of all his sins, he was sent

Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasap were cruel demon brothers. Lord Vishnu had already killed Hiranyaksha. So, Hiranyakasap hated Lord Vishnu. He ordered that the people around the world should worship him like God. Anyone who refused to worship him was punished to be killed. Worried by his cruel deeds, all gods went to Lord Vishnu and narrated

Once, there was unusually hot summer prevailing in South India. Therefore, sage Agastya went to Mt Kailash to ask Lord Shiva for water. The Kaveri was worshipping Lord Shiva at that time. Shiva picked her up and handed her to Agastya. The sage put her in his kamandalu (pot). Sage Agastya thanked Lord Shiva for

Once day, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma started quarrelling about which of them was superior. Just then, Shiva appeared beside them in the form of an endless column of light. The column stretched upwards and downwards as far as the eye could see. The two gods decided that whoever found the top or the bottom

Once, there was a boy named Aruni. He was a student of sage Dhoumya and lived in his ashram. One day, it was raining heavily and Aruni was returning to the ashram after collecting firewood. While he was crossing the field, he saw that at the far end, a barrier had been built to protect

Once, there lived a king called Jairajan. He was peaceful and loved his kingdom. One day, he found that his relatives were planning to usurp his throne and kill him. To avoid violence, he went to live in a far-off village. There he met a beautiful girl and married her. They started living happily. One

A long time ago, there lived King Gandharva Sen. He had two wives and two sons, one each from his two wives. Bharathari was the elder son while Vikramaditya was the younger son. After the death of Gandharva Sen, Bharathari became king. But he soon started losing interest in the welfare of the kingdom. He devoted

Once, there was a king named Uttanpada. He had two wives, Sunity and Suruchi. Sunity had a son named Dhruva and Suruchi’s son was Uttam. Suruchi hated Dhruva and Sunity, and wanted Uttam to be the next king. She was beautiful, so Uttanpada loved her more than Sunity. Under her influence, Uttanpada drove Sunity and

On the snow-covered mountains of Kailash, there lived Lord Shiva with his wife Parvati. They had two sons. The elder, Ganesha and the younger, Karttik. Ganesha was wise and patient while Karttik was playful. But both were very powerful and kind. All the gods loved them dearly. One day, the gods were discussing about the

One of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu on the earth was a Brahmin named Parashurama. He was born on earth to teach wisdom to the governing class Kshatriyas who were a caste of warriors, holders of the temporal power and had become arrogant and oppressed people. Parashurama was a great devotee of Lord Shiva.

Once, Kubera, the god of wealth, invited Ganesha at his palace to a feast. He offered many delicious sweets and dishes to the Lord. Ganesha loved the food so much that he overate. Thus it became difficult for him to walk. So he sat on his divine vehicle mouse and started his journey to return

Once, while goddess Parvati wanted to take a bath, there were no attendants around to stop anyone from accidentally entering the house. Hence she created a boy out of paste which she prepared to cleanse her body, and infused life into it, and thus Ganesha was born. Parvati ordered Ganesha not to allow anyone to

King Himavantha and his wife Menadevi were the devotees of Lord Shiva. They performed an austere penance without having food and water for many years to please Gauridevi, the wife of Lord Shiva. Gauridevi was pleased with their devotion and promised to be born as Menadevi’s daughter. After this, Gauridevi jumped into a sacrificed fire