About the Book Every temple in Kathmandu Valley has a tale of its own and every festival a story behind it. Some of the stories can be dated from the name of kings, queens and commoners mentioned therein, which, to a student of folklore or any general reader, make them more interesting. It explains how folklore is made and carried on through the ages.
About the Author Kesar Lall (1927-2012) wrote many books and numerous articles on folklore, culture, travel, trekking, etc., the first of which appeared in 1945 in a magazine published from Bombay, India. His publications include Lore and Legend of Nepal, Nepalese Customs and Manners, Nepalese Book of Proverbs, This Beautiful Nepal, Lore and Legend of the Yeti and about a dozen collection of folktales in Ratna Folklore Series. Some of his stories have been translated into German, Japanese, Hebrew and Swedish and published in Germany, Japan, Israel and Sweden. One story has been made into a telefilm in French in Switzerland.
Preface Every temple in Kathmandu Valley has a tale of its own and every festival a story behind it. Some of the stories can be dated from the name of kings, queens and commoners mentioned therein, which, to a student of folklore or any general reader, make them more interesting. It explains how folklore is made and carried on through the ages.
Ratna Pustak Bhandar has brought out from time to time a series of publications on Nepalese folklore, two of them being Black Rice and Other Stories (1993) and The Queen's Temple and Other Tales (1994). I had hoped that the stories would catch the imagination of the reader and help him/her to see a more interesting picture of Nepal. My hope has been fulfilled inasmuch as the publisher is bringing out a new edition of myths and legends in the above books in one volume. Ratna Pustak Bhandar has also added four tales from my earlier collections (see References) that are of similar motif.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
