Vikram Aur Betaal

About Vikram Aur Betaal :'Vikram Aur Betaal' is based on 'Betaal Pachisi', written nearly 2,500 years ago by Mahakavi Somdev Bhatt. These are spellbinding stories told to the wise King Vikramaditya by the wily ghost Betaal.

Vikramaditya was a great king who ruled over a prosperous kingdom from his capital at Ujjain. He had immense love for learning as well as for adventure. He was brave, fearless and with a strong will. Everyday many visitors used to visit the king and gift him something. King used to accept all the gifts with same courtesy. Among such visitors was a mendicant who presented the king with a fruit on every visit. King Vikramaditya used to hand over the fruit to the royal storekeeper. One day while handling the fruit broke and pop came out a handy ball of ruby. The King was surprised. He ordered to check all the fruits, and from all fruits a fine ruby. King decided to meet the mendicant.

However, the mendicant had set a condition that the King must meet him under a Banyan tree in the center of the cremation ground beyond the city, at night, on the 14th day of the dark half of the month. King met him as decided. King asked mendicant why he was doing this. The mendicant tells that there is a task that only a King like Vikrmaditya can perform. King Vikramaditya had to visit the northern-most corner of this ground where he would find a very ancient tree. There would be a corpse hanging from one of its branches. He would have to fetch it for the mendicant, as the mendicant was seeking certain occult powers which he would get only if a king brought this particular corpse to him and if he would practice certain rites sitting on it. According to the legend the King Vikramaditya, in order to fulfil a vow, was required to remove a corpse of betaal from a treetop and carry it on his shoulder to another place in silence. Enroute, the spirit of Betaal (in the corpse) used to narrate a story to the king and after completing the story Betaal would pose a query that if he (The king) knew the answer, was bound to respond lest he will break his head into thousand pieces. But if he does speak out, he would break the vow of silence and Betaal would fly back to the treetop, leaving the king inches short of his destination! The king would go after the vampire and start all over again. And so on and on.

As the name 'Betaal Pachisi' suggests the Betaal told King 25 stories. ('Pachisi' (Hindi) is derived from word 'Pachis' in Hindi which means twenty five.) However, looking at the determination of the king Vikramaditya, Betaal finally disclosed the true motive of the mendicant. The mendicant's plan was to practice certain rites sitting on Betaal but he would kill King also to get all powers of world and rule the world. This created suspicion in Vikramaditya's mind. However, he still went to the mendicant, but he was prepared for surprise. Betaal proved to be right and the mendicant tried to kill Vikramaditya. However, Vikramaditya outwitted the mendicant and killed him.

Childrens and adults everywhere can experience the same sense of excitement, learn the same infinite lessons we here anticipate week after week, lessons that plant a seed of knowledge that flourishes while it excites their imagination, evokes their curiosity, King Vikram and the Ghost authentically re-creates the grandeur of that long-ago time when kings, queens, princesses, sages and countries strode the earth, larger than life itself.

Originally there are 25 stories as the name 'Betaal Pachisi' suggests the Betaal told King 25 stories. ('Pachisi' (Hindi) is derived from word 'Pachis' in Hindi which means twenty five.) Each story ended with a witty question for Vikramaditya that he answered correctly. The series presents these stories one by one.