Our Myths Blogfest: Winners and a round-up

We thank all the bloggers who participated in the blogfest. We enjoyed reading your entries. Sandhya and Rathina are the winners and will receive a free copy of It's All The Same!, the latest in the series.

A quick round-up of the entries for your reading pleasure:

Most know of the Sita who know Janaka discovered in his fields, but do you know the Sita born to Ravana? Find out more in this post by Mamma of Twins.

Why are serpents considered sacred? Interesting lore you may not have heard before by Reshmy Pillai.

Murugan and Ganesha – Bachelor boys or are they? Read Rathina Sankari's post to find out.

Sandhya discusses a strong counter-narrative to the well-known Shakunthala myth.

Ever wondered why Kali sticks her tongue out? Two myths from a post by 2A's Mom shed light.

Tulika book lovers in Chennai, do join us on Sunday, September 16 for a special storytelling session with Chitra Krishnan and Sandhya Rao in Just Books.

Celebrating Our Myths

We're celebrating Our Myths! This hugely popular series of books features timeless stories drawn from popular and marginal sources, which gently question stereotypes and rigid notions about myths.

Myths may share beginnings, meet in the middle or find themselves face to face at the end. Sometimes they're as multi-layered as nesting dolls, with one story concealed within the other. They unravel as they are told, and change as they travel from one place to another, one storyteller to another, one listener to another. And so there is always another version of the same story...

For instance, according to one version, Hanuman wrote his version of the Ramayana on banyan leaves. Another version tells how he wrote it down on the rocks of a mountain. Valmiki had to climb up and down to read it and was quite exhausted at the end of it! Picture Hanuman in a banana orchard. He's probably being a monkey and digging into a banana while Valmiki reads. Now picture him atop a mountain. Maybe he's swinging effortlessly from one rock to another adding doodles to his story while Valmiki pants...!

Celebrate Our Myths with us! Here's what you have to do:

1.Put up a post which features two (or more) versions of a myth. Share the link via email or leave a comment on our blog. If you don't have a blog, write to us at tulikabooks@gmail.com with the subject: Celebrating Our Myths Blogfest: Title of your entry. We will post it on the Tulika blog.

2.Keep it short  (between 300 - 500 words). If you can remember, tell us where you first heard (or read) the story. (Include this in a short note at the end of your write-up.)

3.Post your write-ups and send your entries by September 10.

We'll collect interesting responses and post samplings with links to original posts/publish other responses received via mail. Selected participants will win a free copy of the latest book in the series, It's all the same!, retold by award-winning animator and filmmaker Nina Sabnani and illustrated by artist Satyanarayan Suthaar. 

Coming soon...an exclusive It's all the same! book trailer!