Stories 2
All kinds
Origin
Legend
Local story
Folk tale
From the epics
Festival story
Temple legend
In stone and bronze
How a tradition frames it
Everywhere
Pan-India 240
South India 81
West India 37
East India 37
North India 28
The Himalaya 17
Northeast India 8
Southeast Asia 6
Central India 5
Sri Lanka 1
✕ release
cursesacrificedevotionpridebooncreationdisguisemarriagetestbirthsupremacybargaindeathfirehealingpenancerescuepilgrimagerivercraftfestivaldancegiftrivalryearthemanationfriendshipnightdesirefear
From the epics · 5 tellings · contested
Ahalya, Indra and Gautama's curse
Indra comes to Ahalya in the shape of her husband Gautama; both are cursed; Rama's arrival releases her.
Legend · 6 tellings · contested
Shunahshepa, the boy bound for Varuna
Harishchandra promises Varuna the son he asks for and keeps putting off the sacrifice; the prince flees, the king swells with disease, and the bought boy Shunahshepa praises the gods from the post until his bonds fall.