Bible Ki Kahaniyan

{{Short description|Indian television series based on the Old Testament}}

{{Infobox television

| network = DD National

| producer = Jose Punnose

| editor = Raghupathy
T. R. Shekhar

| cinematography = Ashwini Kaul
Ramachandrababu

| camera = Single-camera

| runtime = 50 minutes

| company = Navodaya Studio

| list_episodes =

| first_aired = {{start date|df=y|1992|12|20}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1996}}{{cite book|author=Ananth Mahadevan|author-link=Ananth Mahadevan|title=Once Upon A Prime Time: My Journey on Indian Television|date=20 July 2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KioKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT97|publisher=Embassy Books|isbn=978-93-89995-09-1|pages=97–|access-date=31 December 2020|archive-date=7 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207013940/https://books.google.com/books?id=KioKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT97#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

| related =

| executive_producer =

| num_episodes = 6

| image = Bible Ki Kahaniyan.jpg

| creative_director = Jijo Punnoose

| image_alt = DVD cover of Bible Ki Kahaniyan.

| caption = DVD cover of Bible Ki Kahaniyan.

| genre = {{ubl|Drama|Christian}}

| based_on = Bible

| developer = Navodaya Appachan

| writer = Bhushan Banmali
Zackaria

| director = {{ubl|Rajeev Kumar|Mathew Paul|Isaac Thomas Kottukapally|Jijo|Raghunath Paleri}}

| starring = See Cast

| language = Hindi

| voices = Arvind Mehra
Lalit Tiwari

| narrated = Lalit Tiwari

| theme_music_composer = Karthik Raja

| opentheme = "Ashkon se Jisne Seenchi Zameen" by Karthik Raja

| endtheme =

| composer = Louis Banks
Mohan Sitara
Vanraj Bhatia
Karthik Raja
Sharreth

| country = India

| num_seasons = 1

}}

Bible Ki Kahaniyan ({{translation|Stories from the Bible}}) is an Indian Hindi-language television program based upon scriptures from the Bible. The production aspired to complete both Old Testament and New Testament narratives of the Bible but was later discontinued after covering the Patriarch narrative in the Book of Genesis.{{cite book|author=Maria Francesca Piredda|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vufYAAAAMAAJ|title=Film & mission: per una storia del cinema missionario|publisher=Ente dello Spettacolo|year=2005|isbn=978-88-85095-26-7|page=41|access-date=19 May 2021|archive-date=7 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207014050/https://books.google.com/books?id=vufYAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} It was produced by Appachan through his Navodaya Studio and was broadcast on DD National from 1992 to mid 1993 and again, concluding with the remaining episodes, in 1996.

Premise

The series follows these narrative arcs from the Bible:{{cite web|title=Bible Ki Kahaniyan [4 DVD Set] DVD (1993)|url=https://www.induna.com/1000013299-productdetails/|website=Induna.com|access-date=31 December 2020|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814083556/https://www.induna.com/1000013299-productdetails/|url-status=live}}

Adam & Eve
Noah's Ark
Tower of Babel
Story of Abraham
Story of Isaac ({{Bibleverse|Genesis|24:63–64|KJV}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|Genesis|25:21–22|KJV}})
Story of Jacob ({{Bibleverse|Genesis|27:31–44|KJV}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|Genesis|28:1–5|KJV}})

Cast

{{gallery

|width=140

|align=center

|title=

|File:Raza Murad in 2017 (cropped).jpg|Raza Murad as Noah

|Shammi Kapoor still19.jpg

|Shammi Kapoor as Nimrod

|File:Kabir Bedi.jpg

|Kabir Bedi as Abraham

|Kanwaljit Singh as Jacob

}}

Lalit Tiwari as Narrator
Arvind Mehra as Voice of God
Mother Teresa as Herself(Regarding the episode about Noah's ark)
Daman Maan as Adam
Soham as Eve
Varun Vardhan as Cain
Rajesh Kapoor as Abel
Raza Murad as Noah
Asha Sharma as Noah's wife
Leela Panicker
Urmila Matondkar as Noah's wife's niece
Kothuku Nanappan
Shammi Kapoor as Nimrod
Jagannathan as Manokh
Misha as Aman
Sneha as Nimrod's wife
Kabir Bedi as Abraham
Radha Seth as Sarah
Anamika as Hagar
Surendra Pal as Eliezer
Raja Bundela as Lot
Vishwajeet Pradhan as Nimuk
Seshad Khan as Ishmael
Akbar Khan as Amorite/Main priest
Karan Saluja as King of Sodom/Bethuel
Bhushan Banmali as Hittite
Ravi Vaswani/Rajendra Gupta as Laban
Mohan Gokhale/Kurush Deboo as Isaac
Mita Vashisht/Neelima Azeem as Rebecca
Rita Bhaduri as Deborah
Kanwaljit as Jacob
Salil Shukla as Young Jacob
Janak Toprani as Esau
Master Patnaik as Young Esau
Satish Kapoor as Abimelech
Vijay Mehta as Phicol
Virendra Saxena as Ahusat
Sanofar as Altamash
Aruna Sangal as Cannanite priestess
Ketan Merchant/Prince George as Hittite kids
Winnie Paranjpe as Leah
Sunila Karambelkar as Rachel
Vasudev Bhatt as Ibduil
Tamara George as Bilhah
Chanda as Zilpah
Saba as Laban's wife
Aakash Chopra as Reuben

Background and production

Jijo, the series' creative director, based his chief reference point on novelist James Michener's The Source, a book that talks about the "pains and passions of the people in Biblical times".{{Cite web|title=The Third Coming - the Indian Post|url=http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/essays.nsf/%28docid%29/ED38A5B9DEBCD505E5256C4A005F72EF|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725210445/http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/essays.nsf/(docid)/ED38A5B9DEBCD505E5256C4A005F72EF|archive-date=25 July 2011|access-date=23 February 2011}}{{cite web|date=January 15, 1993|title=TV serial 'Bible Ki Kahaniyan' emphasises more on authenticity than spectacle|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/19930115-tv-serial-bible-ki-kahaniyan-emphasises-more-on-authenticity-than-spectacle-810562-1993-01-15|access-date=December 27, 2018|archive-date=27 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181227084706/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/19930115-tv-serial-bible-ki-kahaniyan-emphasises-more-on-authenticity-than-spectacle-810562-1993-01-15|url-status=live}} Casting was done by Anant Mahadevan and Meenakshi Thakkur and the characters were played by some of the important actors from Bollywood.{{Cite web|title=Indian television has a long way to go: Kabir Bedi - Indian Express|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/indian-television-has-a-long-way-to-go-kabi/711325|website=archive.indianexpress.com|access-date=4 January 2020|archive-date=21 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321205341/http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/indian-television-has-a-long-way-to-go-kabi/711325|url-status=live}} Much of the production work was done by people from the Malayalam film industry based in the state of Kerala.{{Efn|Kerala has a significant Christian minority, especially the historical community of Saint Thomas Christians.{{Britannica|115623|Thomas Christians}}}} Indian historian George Menachery served as the research director, Sabu Cyril was the art director and Sunny Joseph worked on title photography, with additional cinematography by Ashok Kumar, the series had H. Sridhar as a music recordist, SL Puram Anand was the production executive, and Muthuraj served as an assistant art director.{{cn|date=July 2024}} Editing work was done on Avid Media Composer and the series was shot on Kodak Super 16.{{cn|date=July 2024}} Post-production was handled by Prasad Studios and Seventh Channel Communications.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

= Filming and locations =

{{multiple image

| image1 = Kallar_river.jpg

| alt1 = Kallar, Trivandrum

| image2 = Dunes, Désert du Thar.jpg

| alt2 = Thar Desert

| footer = The series was shot in multiple locations in India, pictured here Kallar in Kerala and the Thar Desert in Rajasthan.

}}

The series was shot on different locations in India per the narrative arcs: Kallar and Kanyakumari (Adam and Eve), Kanyakumari (Noah's Ark); episodes beginning with Patriarch arc which required desert scenery were shot in the state of Rajasthan (home of the Thar Desert) mainly in Pushkar and Ajmer; and Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu (Abraham).{{cn|date=July 2024}}{{Efn|The site of St. Francis Xavier's first missionary activity in India.[https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Tirunelveli Tirunelveli] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518012002/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Tirunelveli |date=18 May 2021 }}. Collins English Dictionary, 12th Edition 2014.}} The shooting was supported by organisations such as the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Ajmer Military School among others and received production assistance from the Government of Israel, Israeli Antiquities Authority, Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and N. Ram of The Hindu.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

= Research =

Additional people credited and referred to for research work on the Patriarch episodes included Bishop Alphonsus Mathias of the CBCI, Antony Padiyara, Aharon Megged, Asher Weill, T. Carmi, Amihai Mazar, Jack Sasson, Avraham Biran, David Ussishkin, Trudi Dothan, R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, Nissim Ezekiel, Dom Moraes, Leela Naidu.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

These institutions were also credited: Bible Lands Museum, Biblical Archaeology Society, British Council - Madras, Connemara Public Library, Eretz Israel Museum, Film Institute - Tel Aviv, Hebrew University, Indian Theosophical Society Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University Library, Jnana Deepa Institute for Philosophy and Theology, Orthodox Theological Seminary - Kottayam, Ratan Tata Library, Reader's Digest Association, National Centre for the Performing Arts, National Geographic Society, Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive, Israel Museum, and the University of Madras.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

= Sources consulted =

File:Thomas_Mann_Joseph,_der_Ern%C3%A4hrer_1943.jpg by Thomas Mann.]]

;Books

A number of religious texts and scholarly sources were consulted for the Patriarch episodes, these included:{{cn|date=July 2024}}

class="wikitable sortable"

!Book

!Author

The Jerusalem Bible

|École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem

Pseudepigrapha and Apocryphas

Midrash

Antiquities of the Jews

|Flavius Josephus

Encyclopaedia Judaica

|MacMillan Publishers

Encyclopedia Britannica

|Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Jewish Encyclopedia

|Funk & Wagnalls

Category:Portrayals of Adam and Eve on television

Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament

|James B. Pritchard

Archaeology and the Old Testament

|James B. Pritchard

The Ancient Near East in Pictures

|ed. James B. Pritchard

Documents from Old Testament Times

|ed. David Winton Thomas

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible

|George Arthur Buttrick

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible

|ed. Keith Crim

The Jerome Biblical Commentary

|Raymond E. Brown

Joseph and His Brothers

|Thomas Mann

The Ancient History of the Near East

|Henry R. Hall

Ancient Iraq

|Georges Roux

Ancient Mesopotamia

|A. Leo Oppenheim

At that Time the Canaanites were in the Land

|Irit Ziffer

Babylon and the Old Testament

|André Parrot

Cradle of Civilization

|Samuel Kramer

The Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia

|Michael Roaf

Ebla - An Empire Rediscovered

|Paolo Matthiae

The Archives of Ebla

|Giovanni Pettinato

Everyday Life in Babylon and Assyria

|Georges Contenau

Folklore in the Old Testament

|James George Frazer

Genesis

|Gerhard von Rad

Life and Language in the Old Testament

|Mary Ellen Chase

Myths, Legends and Customs in the Old Testament

|Theodor Gaster

Stories from Ancient Canaan

|Michael D. Coogan

The Ancient Gods

|E. O. James

Cambridge World History

|Cambridge University Press

Hazor

|Yigael Yadin

Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Biblical Research

|William G. Dever

Shechem

|G. Ernest Wright

The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands

|Yigael Yadin

The Bible As History

|Werner Keller

The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives

|Thomas L. Thompson

The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

|James H. Charlesworth

Treasures from Bible Times

|Alan Millard

Ugarit and the Old Testament

|Peter Craigie

Women in Ancient History

|Harriet Stowe

Wanderings

|Chaim Potok

Dawn of Civilization

|Stuart Piggott

;Articles

File:Bible_Review_Magazine.jpg were used as a point of reference.]]

Articles referred to in the production of the Patriarch episodes included:{{cn|date=July 2024}}

National Geographic

"Journey into the Living World of the Bible" by Melville Bell Grosvenor (Oct 1967)
"Splendors of the Bronze Age" by George F. Bass (Dec 1987)
"Bringing Old Testament Times to Life" by G. Ernest Wright (Dec 1957)

Bible Review/Biblical Archaeology Review

"The Mothers of Israel" by J. Cheryl Exum (Spring 1986)
"Patriarchal Burial Site Explored for First Time in 700 Years" by Nancy Miller (May–June 1985)
"Ekron of the Philistines" by Trude Dothan and Seymour Gitin (Jan/Feb 1990)
"Elie Borowswki Seeks a Home for his Collection" by Hershel Shanks (Mar/Apr 1985)
"Exploring Philistine Origins on the Island of Cyprus" by Vassos Karageorghis (Mar/Apr 1984)
"Jacob Takes his Bride" by Thomas Mann (Spring 1986)

Music

File:Parma Psalter 188a.l.jpg serves as the opening theme of the series.]]

The title song by music director Karthik Raja was based on {{Bibleverse|Psalm|126:5–6|KJV}}. The Patriarch episodes had lyrics written by Kaifi Azmi and Hasan Kamaal with songs sung by Kavita Krishnamurti, Vinod Rathod, Suresh Wadkar, and Vani Jairam. These episodes included recreated Hurrian songs by Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, and Ancient Greek music by Gregorio Paniagua. Music from "The Music of the Bible Revealed, Tapes and the Book" by Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura, and "The Rise of Ancient Israel" by the Biblical Archaeology Society was also included in these episodes with Vantoura also serving as an advisor.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

Broadcast and release

= Broadcast =

The first Episode "Adam and Eve" aired on 20 December 1992 on DD National. DD discontinued the series after few episodes because there was fear of communal tension as some people, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, had objections with the portrayal of Islamic prophets on screen.{{Cite web|title=More mythology on DD's Sunday slot|url=http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/essays.nsf/%28docid%29/74F88593A9D030D96525693F0037D2D4|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928001235/http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/essays.nsf/%28docid%29/74F88593A9D030D96525693F0037D2D4|archive-date=28 September 2011|access-date=23 February 2011}}

= Home media =

A 4 disk set of Bible Ki Kahaniyan was released on DVD by Indus Video in the NTSC standard, containing all six episodes of the series that were broadcast by Doordarshan.