Indian Folklore

The folklore of India is closely related to that of Iran. Its folklore is described by Smith as a "kind of border land of miraculous reality".

The main problem westerners have with dealing with the folklore of India is the preconceptions many have about it: that it is mysterious, romantic, and pleasurably lazy. Leaving aside the final preconception, those who wish to fully understand it have to learn that there is much more to it than mystery and romance, and that every day things can be combined with the supernatural.

Many of their stories feel familiar to western audiences due to many common aspects of western stories showing up in them, including bread, milk, jewellers, farmers, evil stepmothers, and beautiful and good heroines, though some of the differences when one encounters a story similar to a known one can be jarring. Most of these similarities can be traced back to earlier Proto-Indo-European traditions which served as the origins of both the Indo-Iranian stories and their European counterparts, and there has also been much contact between India and Europe, meaning some European stories may be based on the Indian ones and vice versa.

## Origins

India and its culture descend from the Proto-Indo-Europeans, with Iran and India both originating with the Proto-Indo-Iranian branch. This means that there are a number of similarities with European and Middle-eastern cultures, and particularly with each other. In classical India, Sanskrit was the main religious language, in much the same way Avestan was in Iran.

Sanskrit is related to the Hindustani language, sharing many words, though there are also many Persian words as well, particularly in Urdu. Many other Indian languages also show great influence from Sanskrit, even in non-Indo-European languages from the region.

Hinduism both retains many beliefs from proto-Hindu religions, and also has absorbed a number of customs of other people (such as the Dravidian peoples) as it spread to a wider area. Many of these beliefs manifest within folklore. This includes stories, gods, and magic.

That is not to say that pre-Hindu ideas have been completely subsumed by Hinduism. Many other religions exist alongside Hinduism in India, many completely unrelated to it, and these have their own legends and stories. While some of their ideas may have been adopted into the Hindu corpus, the same exists the other way: Hindu ideas being adopted by non-Hindu groups.

## Supernatural Elements

* *Ghul* are ghouls
* *Piri*/*Feri* are Indian fairies, beautiful enchantresses of human height who are desired by human men
* Cycles of talking animal stories
* Ogres
* Jinn
* Magic - It should be noted that India's magical systems are considerably more elaborate than their European counterparts, though scholars in the 20th Century theorised that these systems are relatively simple in contrast to religious principles of the same age, and magic has generally been considered something of a literary device instead of something practical, unlike in Europe.

## Conceptualisation of the Supernatural World

Unlike many other Proto-Indo-European-descended cultures, the people of India do not tend to separate the world into a supernatural world and a natural world, but instead have it all as part of the same world; nothing is certain, everything can be changed in an instant, and supernatural forces appear in everyday life. This has led folklorists to find very rich material in recordings of mundane life in India.

## Folkloric Tradition

Indian folklorists see little difference in the content of the oral and literary traditions: only the form is different. India's literary tradition goes back *at least* 3,000 years, and likely originated as the Proto-Indo-Iranian oral tradition.

The earliest myths are mostly about the conflict between good and evil, with the conflict starting soon after the beginning of existence. This conflict is generally depicted in the Vedas and epic poems. The *Rigveda* is the earliest known record of India's mythology, and along with the later *Samaveda*, *Yajurveda*, *Atharvaveda*, and *Brahmanas* date to the first and second millennia BCE. The *Upanishads* and *Aranyakas* associated with the *Brahmanas* are later additions. Of the epics, the *Mahabharata* and *Ramayana* are often considered the best examples, particularly the *Bhagavadgita* of the prior and the 16th Century CE version of the latter by Tulsi Das. While not epics, the *Puranas* contain much of the same information, and are also of great use to those studying India's beliefs. The *Puranas* date from the 7th Century BCE at the earliest, and have been added to and changed as recently as the modern period.

India's mythical heroes, such as Rama, exist both in a religious context and a secular context, with stories varying by religious sect, location, and time. Rama was likely based on earlier mythical figures, much in the same way as the Iranian Rustam. Other heroes, such as Rasalu of the Punjab and Hatim T'ai of Bengal were based on historical figures (a 1st Century CE Scythian king and an Arab chief respectively) who had mythical elements added to their narratives over time.

Love stories have a prominent place in India's folklore, with many appearing in corrupted forms in the *One Thousand and One Arabian Nights*. A notable source of folklore is the *Panchatantra*, a collection of fables comparable to those of Aesop.

### Modern Indian Folklore

Folklore continues to be created in modern India, with old motifs being used in new ways, stories being altered for a more modern audience, and other stories becoming associated with modern events. New stories are continuously being created as well, with many real people being mythologised with heroic retellings of their daily lives

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Smith, M. (1972). "Indian and Persian folklore and mythology", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. p.516-518