#480 - Magic Vessels

by Vayu Naidu and illustrated by Mugdha Shah

“Magic Vessels” by Vayu Naidu and illustrated by Mugdha Shah. Published by Tulika. A delightful retelling of a folk tale from Tamilnadu.

Muthu is a poor playwright who lives under a banyan tree in a village with his wife Chellam and eleven children. He is very kind and helpful to others. Chellam is hardworking and manages to earn just enough to provide for the family. Worried about their future, Chellam asks Muthu to try and earn some money. Determined to do this, Muthu sets out with a pot of old cooked rice with him for the journey. He gets lost in a beautiful grove in the jungle.

Muthu finds himself being helped by some kind and enchanting tree spirits. They gift him a magical brass vessel which can make his wishes come true. The story doesn’t end here. Someone else gets tempted to get a bigger magic vessel like that for himself. This time it is the richest man from the village. What happens when he returns home to his family? Does the magic vessel work? Read the book to savour this timeless folk tale.

The book is part of one of our favourite picture book series called “Under the Banyan Tree”. Each book from the series has a folk tale from a different state in India. This book was out of print when we read the other books from the series a couple of years ago. It was therefore a delight to spot this back in stock during a pop up stall by Funky Rainbow last year at my son’s nursery school. We read it at bedtime and my nine year old loved the story. He is planning to translate it to Hindi for a school assignment. The accompanying illustrations in the book are adapted from the terracotta figures that can be found at the edges of villages in Tamilnadu to this day. They are believed to guard the villagers and represent a warrior called Ayyanar and his human as well as animal friends. These figures are painted with bright colours. The Ayyanar horses are considered to be the largest terracotta figures in the world.

P.S - The other books from the series that we have read are “Hiss, Don’t Bite!” from Bengal, “Wrestling Mania” from Punjab, “Eyes on the Peacock’s Tail” from Rajasthan, “Sweet and Salty” from Andhra Pradesh, “All Free” from Gujarat and “Mazzoo Mazzoo” from Kashmir.

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 5/6 and above.