About Little Katha & our stories
Little Katha is a home for illustrated Indian mythology, made for curious children and the grown-ups who read with them. Explore Ganesha, Hanuman and Krishna’s adventures together, one story at a time.
Meet Hanuman. Hanuman is a Hindu deity loved for strength, learning and devoted service to Rama. He is the son of Anjana and Kesari, blessed by Vayu, the wind god. The Ramayana’s vanaras are extraordinary monkey-like beings. Rama is revered as an incarnation of Vishnu, and Sita as a goddess. Four connected stories follow his Ramayana adventures. Hanuman Meets Bhima takes place later, in the Mahabharata. Neither sequence retells the whole epic.
Ganesha is the elephant-headed Hindu deity associated with wisdom, auspicious beginnings and removing obstacles. Shiva and Parvati are his parents; Kartikeya is his brother.
These are original adaptations of traditional tales, with newly created illustrations and dialogue. Each story has four pages of six panels, optional conversation pauses, and a three-question quiz on its final page. Allow roughly 15–20 minutes together, depending on your pace; the newer, shorter tales leave more time to look and talk. You can stop after any page; your place is saved.
Indian families and communities tell these stories in many different ways. Our dialogue, descriptive scenes, family conversations and bedtime reflections are original dramatizations, not quotations from scripture or published books. The stories include difficult events plainly, with no graphic depictions.
How Ganesha Came to Be follows the familiar Parvati-created child tradition. It includes the confrontation, Shiv striking the boy, Parvati’s grief and fierce anger, the killing of an elephant to obtain its head, and Ganesha’s divine restoration. The violent acts remain off-panel. Details differ among accounts, including who obtains the head and how restoration occurs.
The Little Journey follows the Tamil fruit-of-wisdom and Palani tradition: three circuits, Ganesha’s interpretation, and Kartikeya/Murugan’s disappointment, departure and life at Palani. The family conversations are imagined. This is one version of the contest, not the only one.
A Feast of Kindness includes the emptied feast and pantry, Ganesha’s anger over Kubera’s promise, and the humble rice offering. Some versions specify puffed rice. It is a divine tale about pride and generosity, not a judgment about people’s bodies or appetites.
The Patient Scribe uses the version in which Ganesha’s writing tool breaks and he breaks off a tusk to continue recording Vyasa’s Mahabharata. Other traditions explain his tusk differently. The scribe story is a traditional account associated with the epic; its manuscript history is more complex. The reflection connects perseverance to asking for help and practical solutions in everyday life.
The Child Who Reached for the Sun combines the familiar childhood sun-leap account with later traditions of the sages’ curse and Surya’s teaching. It includes Indra’s blow, Hanuman’s unconsciousness, and the world’s loss of air. Accounts vary in the blessings, chronology and details of his education.
A Friend for Rama follows Hanuman’s meeting with Rama and the alliance with Sugriva, compressing the larger Kishkindha narrative. It includes Rama’s concealed shot at Vali, Vali’s questions, his death and his family’s grief. These episodes have many interpretations; we leave room for questions rather than treating every action as a simple lesson.
The Leap to Lanka follows the main Sundara Kanda journey, including Sita’s captivity and threatened death, her decision not to fly back with Hanuman, the deaths in the garden battle, Hanuman’s capture, the burning of Lanka and his concern that anger may have endangered Sita. Violence is not shown graphically.
The Mountain of Hope follows Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda 101, in which Ravana wounds Lakshmana and the physician Sushena sends Hanuman for medicinal herbs. Familiar later tellings often name Indrajit/Meghnad, Dronagiri, a sunrise deadline and additional adventures. We do not combine those versions here. The plants and healing are part of the legend; the illustrations are not botanical or medical guidance. This episode ends with Lakshmana’s recovery, while the wider war remains unresolved.
Ganesha and His Mouse follows the Krauncha tradition: the accidental step on Vamadeva’s foot, the curse, destruction at Parashara’s hermitage, capture by the pasha, and service as Ganesha’s vahana. The weight episode follows a related telling in which Ganesha makes himself lighter. We do not combine Krauncha with the separate demon Gajamukha story. The curse need not be treated as a fair punishment.
Ganesha and the River Kaveri brings together the drought-and-Indra setting of the Tamil crow tradition and the direct revelation to Agastya described by Swami Sivananda. Ganesha is the crow; Agastya angrily taps its head before recognizing him. Other accounts include a boy disguise or Kaveri’s marriage to Agastya. Those are not combined here. The legend is a sacred origin story, not a geographical account of how rivers form.
Hanuman Meets Bhima adapts Mahabharata, Vana Parva 145–150, with the departure in 151, following K. M. Ganguli’s translation. Bhima uproots trees and kills animals on the journey; this is stated without showing injured bodies. Hanuman’s warning, the immovable tail, shared father Vayu, great form and future battle promise remain. Hanuman keeps the app’s established appearance while claiming age and weakness. The episode ends before Bhima’s later violent conflict at the lotus lake; it does not claim his pride is permanently cured.
Meet Krishna. Krishna is revered as an incarnation of Vishnu and, in many Vaishnava traditions, as the Supreme Lord. These four stories follow his birth and childhood in the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10. Devaki and Vasudeva are his birth parents; Yashoda and Nanda raise him. Balarama is his elder brother.
A Child Born at Midnight includes Kamsa’s imprisonment of the parents, the deaths of their first six children, Krishna’s birth, the river crossing and Yogamaya’s escape. Violence is not pictured. The Butter Thief retains the broken pot, Yashoda’s discarded stick, the rope and mortar, and the release of the two brothers from the trees. Its family dialogue is imagined.
Krishna and Kaliya includes poisoned companions and their restoration, the serpent’s attack, surrender, and departure. Balarama arrives with the worried adults. The Mountain That Sheltered a Village includes Indra’s destructive storm, seven days of shelter under Govardhan, and his apology. These are divine events within the stories. Regional and family tellings differ.
The accessible illustrated storytelling of Amar Chitra Katha is an inspiration. This independent app is not an ACK publication or a reproduction of its books.
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