When we talk about folklore the picture comes to our mind is a grand Ma sitting outside her hut, surrounded by village children, ready to tell some absorbing tales to the children that could be of valour, bravery or example of honesty, and so on. Or village people sitting around a bonfire in evenings to listen to tales of their past, migration, tribe heroes and other interesting stories of the by their elders. Telltale is an oral tradition. It is not limited to these stories only. It is much more than that. It refers to learning of folk wisdom. This,the received wisdom, is the mother of all cultures.
Folk tales may have been used to teach religious precepts or moral lessons to the young, or simply to entertain. The people have preserved the sanctity of living traditions by an unbroken oral tradition at villages. They made them a part of the living tradition. These folk traditions of India belong to the people who settled in Indian subcontinent from the very early stages.
Today these oral folk traditions in a form of stories come from many sources and have a multitude of authors. Indian Sanskrit works such as Katha sarit sagar, Dasa, Pancatantra, Hitopadesa and jatakas contain similar stories. Lok katha carry much of its prehistory with it. All stories are accompanied by a moral. Jataka kathas are intended to impart values such as of self-sacrifice, morality and honesty. Noteworthy are the Panchtantra stories and Hitopdesh, a collection of traditional narratives. Apart from it, every region of India has its own regional folk tales. These enable us to trace the background as embedded in the cultural consciousness of the people through ages.
Folk tales embodies the popular attitudes, customs, traditions and values of society. Granma stories are not limited to stories only. They are repository of learning or folk wisdom which is later on noted in lok katha, lok sangeet and lok kala preserved.
It is difficult to get all the information of the past six thousand years in pre-history, when there is no written literature available. Over several millennia, the people of India preserved the sanctity of these living traditions by an unbroken oral tradition — made them part of the living Hindu tradition. They are intrinsically linked with the historic cultural settings from which they arise and ultimately nurtured the local people. The contribution of folk knowledge given by early pre historic societies in sowing the seeds of Indian culture heritage so strongly that, its effects are seen even today.
The roots of a culture are to be found in folklore only. Folk traditions of India were always rich from earliest times. Folk culture and tradition are found in their folk knowledge that encompasses the life style of the people, their beliefs, morals, customs, rituals, law, religion, and even behaviour and any other capabilities and habits of members of the that society. The sources of folklore are legends, mythology, riddles, proverbs, stories, folk medicine, songs, and art. Indian cultural heritage has been the product of two streams of thought and practices – folk traditions at villages levels and literary traditions. Though the two are independent yet the roots of the higher traditions lie in the folk traditions.
Today, the collection of stories of Panchatantra are a real boon for parents to help them guide their children towards values in human life.