Educational Galaxy

Story of India's Storytelling Tradition — EG's own notes, in simple words

Book: Kriti (CBSE, Class 7)  |  Chapter 4  |  Medium: English

Section: Theatre

Diagram (labels are printed on the image): A storyteller with a painted scroll telling children a tale. A general teaching picture; it is not a picture from the book.

A child telling a story to classmates in a circle. A general picture about keeping storytelling alive; no book picture is copied here.

What the chapter is about

The chapter tells its story through Kathanjali, a girl who has lived for thousands of years, loves telling stories, and has seen kings and rulers, lived among common people and travelled across the world. She found that people did not know stories at all, and were missing both the fun and the values stories teach — so she created storytellers, people who could remember and narrate stories in interesting ways, for listeners from small children to old people.

Around the 2nd century BCE, Kathanjali noticed listeners sometimes getting bored or distracted, so she added something new: pictures, music, dance and puppets. Storytelling became a different experience for people of all ages, and in different parts of the country she created different ways of using pictures, music and dance, based on local traditions.

Harikathe grew in the 12th century in the south, when Kathanjali remembered Narada Muni, who travelled from place to place narrating stories of Lord Vishnu. She encouraged the Bhagavatar community to tell stories through songs and dance, and because they narrated the stories of Lord Hari, it came to be known as Harikathe. It became popular across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, it was interactive, and its storyteller was called the Harikathe Dasa. Its great modern master was Gururajulu Naidu (born 1931), called the Karnataka Harikathe Pitamaha: while actual Harikathe performances went on all night long, his style revolutionised the form with a duration of 90 minutes, which audiences welcomed. His famous performances include Bhakta Markendeya, Bhakta Siriyala, Mahi Ravana, Maya Bazaar, Nallathanga Devi, Gaja Gowri Vrata, Shri Krishna Garudi and Lava Kusha, and he also acted in films such as Mooruvare Vajragalu, Hannele Chiguridaaga and Madhu Malathi.

Kaavad Katha is a storytelling tradition more than 500 years old. When common people could not read scriptures like the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas, Kathanjali asked the Bhaats, a craftspeople community in Rajasthan, to create an interesting way of using pictures to tell stories. Because pictures do not need language, anyone could understand them. The storytellers travelled from village to village with the Kaavad, a box of pictures made from mango-tree wood, with 8 to 16 parts according to the story — the biggest cover made so far is 25 feet long — telling stories in the people’s own language, with songs, including Panchatantra and Hitopadesha stories for children, and today also modern stories with socially relevant messages, such as educating girl children in villages and maintaining hygiene. Among the few surviving Kaavadiyas is Khojaram ji of Kumar Dhani near Jodhpur, Rajasthan, practising Kaavad Katha for more than 40 years. He recalls that earlier people believed in gyan-daan-bhagwan: everyone gathered under a tree to listen, as the Kaavad, like a temple, came to them, and they heard the knowledge embedded in the stories of gods. Now Kaavadiyas visit a jajman’s house once a year, and like other Kaavadiyas he keeps a book recording the people living, dead and newly born in the families of the neighbourhood.

Two more picture traditions are named. Phad paintings of Rajasthan tell stories of Puranas, kings and the battles they fought, and praise local deities like Pabuji and Devnarayan. Thangka, from Ladakh, Sikkim, Jammu, Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, tells stories from Buddhist scriptures, events in the lives of saints, and local folk stories.

Today these forms are slowly becoming rare. Young people are not learning them to carry them forward, and with everyone watching television and smartphones, there is no one left to listen to the stories. If the storytellers are gone, the stories go away with them. The chapter’s lesson for life is that these are oral traditions, passed down through generations: everyone in India knows the Ramayana and Mahabharata today because of them, and even a person who cannot read or write can learn values for life from them. Written books or computer data can be destroyed in seconds, but stories in oral tradition can never be destroyed — so learn a storytelling style and carry the tradition forward.

What you should learn

• Explain how Kathanjali’s story presents storytelling: from plain narration to pictures, music, dance and puppets.
• Describe Harikathe — its origin, region, storyteller’s name, and Gururajulu Naidu’s 90-minute revolution.
• Describe Kaavad Katha — its age, makers, travelling box, and Khojaram ji’s account of change.
• Compare Phad and Thangka: where they come from and what stories they tell.
• Explain why these oral traditions are dying, and why saving them matters.

Try it: Become a storyteller

1. Take the chapter’s traditional painting pictures and connect them to form your own story, as unique as possible — you may change the order of the pictures.
2. Think of a unique way of narrating it: speak every line in a sing-song tone, add dance steps to describe situations, or think of songs that suit the situation.
3. Try writing your story in rhyming words, which makes it more interesting to narrate.
4. Present it in front of your class and share feedback.

Try it: Narrate a textbook lesson with pictures

1. Pick any story from your English or Social Science textbook.
2. Narrate it with pictures, in the Kaavad or Phad manner, instead of only reading it aloud.
3. Notice whether picturing the lesson helps you remember it better, and discuss why with your class.

Try it: Circle Time — saving the traditions

1. If you had to create a new form of storytelling, what would you add, and how would you make it more interesting?
2. If you were in the government, list two things you would do to save these art forms from dying out.

Chart / Table: Four storytelling traditions at a glance

Tradition	Where / How it tells
Harikathe	South India (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu); songs and dance; stories of Lord Hari; storyteller: Harikathe Dasa.
Kaavad Katha	Rajasthan; travelling mango-wood picture box, 8–16 parts, biggest cover 25 feet; Bhaats; Kaavadiya storytellers.
Phad	Rajasthan paintings; Puranas, kings and battles; local deities Pabuji and Devnarayan.
Thangka	Ladakh, Sikkim, Jammu, Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh; Buddhist scriptures, saints’ lives, folk stories.

Practice set — try it yourself

1. Who is Kathanjali, and why did she create storytellers?
   Hint: Hint: Think of a girl who lived thousands of years and found people knew no stories.
2. What changed in storytelling around the 2nd century BCE, and why?
   Hint: Hint: Listeners were getting bored or distracted.
3. Name the Harikathe storyteller and the form’s great modern master.
   Hint: Hint: One is a title, the other was born in 1931.
4. What is a Kaavad made of, and how many parts can it have?
   Hint: Hint: Think of mango wood and a range from 8 to 16.
5. Pick a Social Science lesson and narrate it with pictures, as the chapter suggests.
   Hint: Hint: Draw or order pictures first, then narrate over them.

Questions with Answers

1. How does the chapter explain the beginning of storytelling in India?
   Through Kathanjali, a girl who has lived for thousands of years: she found people did not know stories and missed their fun and values, so she created storytellers who could remember and narrate stories interestingly for listeners from small children to old people.
2. Why were pictures, music, dance and puppets added to storytelling?
   Around the 2nd century BCE, listeners sometimes got bored or distracted by plain narration. Adding pictures, music, dance and puppets made storytelling a very different experience for people of all ages, and each region developed its own way of using them.
3. Describe Harikathe and the contribution of Gururajulu Naidu.
   Harikathe began in the 12th century in the south, modelled on Narada Muni travelling and narrating stories of Lord Vishnu: the Bhagavatar community told stories of Lord Hari through songs and dance, interactively, across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, with the storyteller called Harikathe Dasa. Gururajulu Naidu (born 1931), the Karnataka Harikathe Pitamaha, revolutionised it by cutting all-night performances to 90 minutes, which audiences welcomed; his famous performances include Bhakta Markendeya, Bhakta Siriyala, Mahi Ravana, Maya Bazaar, Nallathanga Devi, Gaja Gowri Vrata, Shri Krishna Garudi and Lava Kusha.
4. Describe Kaavad Katha and Khojaram ji’s account of how it has changed.
   Kaavad Katha is over 500 years old: the Bhaats of Rajasthan created a travelling box of pictures, made of mango-tree wood with 8 to 16 parts (the biggest cover so far 25 feet long), so that common people who could not read the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas could still hear their stories, in their own language, with songs — plus Panchatantra and Hitopadesha stories for children, and today modern socially relevant stories. Khojaram ji of Kumar Dhani near Jodhpur, practising for over 40 years and among the few surviving Kaavadiyas, recalls that earlier everyone gathered under a tree, believing in gyan-daan-bhagwan, and the Kaavad came to them like a temple; now Kaavadiyas visit a jajman’s house once a year, and he keeps a book of the neighbourhood families’ living, dead and newly born.
5. Why does the chapter say oral traditions must be saved?
   Because everyone in India knows the Ramayana and Mahabharata today through oral traditions, because even people who cannot read or write can learn values for life from them, and because they keep culture and traditions alive. Books or computer data can be destroyed in seconds, but stories in oral tradition can never be destroyed — yet they die if young people do not learn them and television and smartphones leave no listeners.

Extension Questions — for deeper understanding

1. Compare Harikathe and Kaavad Katha: what is similar, and what is different?
   Both were created so ordinary people could hear great stories — Harikathe through songs and dance, Kaavad Katha through pictures that need no language. Harikathe is a southern, interactive song-and-dance form about Lord Hari; Kaavad Katha is a Rajasthani travelling picture-box form, made by the Bhaats, telling scriptures, children’s tales and now modern social messages.
2. How are Phad and Thangka different in place and story world?
   Phad paintings come from Rajasthan and tell Puranas, kings and their battles, praising local deities Pabuji and Devnarayan. Thangka comes from Ladakh, Sikkim, Jammu, Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh and tells Buddhist scriptures, events in saints’ lives and local folk stories.
3. What does Khojaram ji’s phrase “gyan-daan-bhagwan” describe about old Kaavad gatherings?
   It describes a time when the Kaavad came to the people like a temple: everyone gathered under a tree, looked at God and at the same time listened to the knowledge embedded in the stories of gods — hearing and learning together, not merely looking.
4. If you were in the government, what two things would you do to save these art forms? (Discussion — no single answer)
   Possible directions from the chapter: support young learners to train with surviving masters like Khojaram ji, and create listeners — school performances, recordings and programmes that bring these forms back before television and smartphones. Any reasoned pair of steps, argued from the chapter’s two problems (no learners, no listeners), is a good answer.
5. How would you create a new form of storytelling, using the chapter’s ideas?
   Combine the chapter’s ingredients in a new way: pictures that need no language (Kaavad), songs and dance (Harikathe), interaction with the audience, and a modern message — then test it by narrating a textbook lesson with it and asking classmates whether it helped them remember.
6. The chapter ends the theatre section with a summative activity. What does it ask groups and individuals to do?
   Individually: pick an emotion, list 3–4 intensity levels, build them into one story, and write a script with scenes and dialogues, narrated dramatically with music, dance or pictures. In a group: pick a Social Science or English story, write a script with characters and scenes, and perform a 3-minute pantomime show — judged on command over techniques, creativity, clarity, decision-making, collaboration and cooperation.

How to use this page: Read the summary, say the Key Terms in your own words, then try the practice set without looking. Check your answers against Questions with Answers, and ask your teacher or parent to check your work.