A storytelling podcast for children · Ages 4–15

Stories told under the banyan tree.

For generations, children learned their culture by listening: to a grandparent at bedtime, a storyteller at the temple, a festival tale told every year. Banyan Stories keeps that going, with the epics, the festivals and the everyday traditions, told aloud with warmth, wonder and a little mystery.

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Explorer story · Ages 9–15

Balarama and the Donkey Demon

When Kannan hears swish-swish in the trees, Mira tells him the story of Krishna and Balarama and a palm grove full of ripe fruit that nobody dares to touch. Listen like a detective to work out why, and find out how the brothers help their friends and the cows. Content note: brief mild peril, resolved warmly.

Content note: Brief mild peril, resolved warmly.

  • 9 min
  • Scare level 2 of 5
  • Transcript included

Junior story · Ages 4–8

Balarama and the Donkey Demon

On a chilly evening, Kannan hears something swish-swish outside, and Mira turns it into a story about a grove of palm trees with ripe fruit that nobody dares to pick. Can the two of them solve the mystery together? Content note: brief mild peril, resolved warmly.

Content note: Brief mild peril, resolved warmly.

  • 9 min
  • Scare level 2 of 5
  • Transcript included

Explorer story · Ages 9–15

Bhima and the Demon Vaka

On a blustery night, Mira and Kannan snuggle under a blanket while a branch goes tap, tap, tap at the window. Mira tells the story of Bhima, the hungriest Pandava, who is hiding in disguise in the town of Ekachakra with his brothers and his mother, Kunti. When a neighbour's family is in trouble, Bhima sets off with a very big dinner and a very grumpy giant waiting. Content note: mild suspense and a comic giant.

Content note: mild suspense; comic giant; no injury shown.

  • 9 min
  • Scare level 2 of 5
  • Transcript included

Why stories?

A story is how a festival stops being a date on the calendar and becomes something a child understands: why the lamps are lit, why the pot boils over, why Hanuman leaps. Children carry stories with them, retell them, and ask the questions that start real conversations at home.

Read more: why stories are the best way to pass on culture →

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