Vikram Aur Betaal

Legend

Vikram Aur Betaal is based on the 11th-century collection Betaal Pachisi by the Kashmiri poet Somdev Bhatta. In these stories, the ghost Betaal tells tales to King Vikramaditya. The legend says Vikramaditya ruled from Ujjain and loved knowledge and adventure. He was fearless and determined, and he welcomed visitors who brought him gifts, which he always accepted.

One such visitor was a mendicant who gave the king fruit each time. Vikramaditya handed these to his storekeeper. One day, while handling a fruit, the king found a ruby inside. Curious, he had all the fruits checked and discovered many fine rubies.

Wanting to solve the mystery, he found the mendicant, who agreed to meet only under a banyan tree in the cremation ground at night on the 14th day of the dark half of the month. The king kept the appointment, and the mendicant gave him a task only a ruler could do: fetch an old corpse hanging from a tree branch at the northern edge of the ground. The mendicant wanted to use occult rites on that corpse to gain powers. The legend says Vikramaditya took a vow to carry Betaal’s corpse silently from one place to another.

During the journey, Betaal’s spirit told stories, each ending with a question. The king had to answer because of his vow, or face bad consequences. But every time he answered, Betaal went back to the treetop, and the king had to start over. Vikramaditya kept trying and finished all 25 stories from Betaal Pachisi.

Then Betaal revealed the mendicant’s evil plan: he meant to kill the king during the rites to gain world powers. Vikramaditya grew suspicious but still went to meet the mendicant, ready for a surprise. As Betaal had warned, the mendicant tried to kill him, but the king outsmarted and defeated him, exposing the plot. The show aired on DD National in 1985 and again in 1988 after Ramayan.

It featured stories from Indian mythology and was based on the frame story of Baital Pachisi. It is also called Vikram-Betaal. The main cast included Arun Govil as King Vikramaditya and Sajjan as Betaal. It aired on Sundays at 4:30 PM IST from 1985 to 1986.

Did You Know?

• Arun Govil played King Vikramāditya and Sajjan played Betaal (the ghost).
• The series aired at 4:30 PM Indian Standard Time on Sundays from 1985 to 1986.