Bible Ki Kahaniyan

Bible Ki Kahaniyan (transl. 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.[2] 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.[1]

Bible Ki Kahaniyan
DVD cover of Bible Ki Kahaniyan.
DVD cover of Bible Ki Kahaniyan.
Genre
Based onBible
Developed byNavodaya Appachan
Written byBhushan Banmali
Zackaria
Directed by
Creative directorJijo Punnoose
StarringSee Cast
Voices ofArvind Mehra
Lalit Tiwari
Narrated byLalit Tiwari
Theme music composerKarthik Raja
Opening theme"Ashkon se Jisne Seenchi Zameen" by Karthik Raja
ComposersLouis Banks
Mohan Sitara
Vanraj Bhatia
Karthik Raja
Sharreth
Country of originIndia
Original languageHindi
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
ProducerJose Punnose
CinematographyAshwini Kaul
Ramachandrababu
EditorsRaghupathy
T. R. Shekhar
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time50 minutes
Production companyNavodaya Studio
Release
Original networkDD National
Original release20 December 1992 (1992-12-20) –
1996 (1996)[1]

Premise

The series follows these narrative arcs from the Bible:[3]

Cast

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".[6][7] Casting was done by Anant Mahadevan and Meenakshi Thakkur and the characters were played by some of the important actors from Bollywood.[8] Much of the production work was done by people from the Malayalam film industry based in the state of Kerala.[7][lower-alpha 1] 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.[4][10] Editing work was done on Avid Media Composer and the series was shot on Kodak Super 16.[4] Post-production was handled by Prasad Studios and Seventh Channel Communications.[11][4]

Filming and locations
Kallar, Trivandrum
Thar Desert
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),[11] 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).[12][lower-alpha 2] 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.[4][5] Animals required for the Noah's Ark sequence were provided by Bharat Circus.[14]

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.[4][5]

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.[4][5]

Sources consulted
A number of different sources were consulted during research for the series, such as Joseph and His Brothers by Thomas Mann.
Books

A number of religious texts and scholarly sources were consulted for the Patriarch episodes, these included:[4][5]

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
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
Articles from the Bible Review were used as a point of reference.

Articles referred to in the production of the Patriarch episodes included:[4][5]

National Geographic

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
Psalm 126 serves as the opening theme of the series.

The title song by music director Karthik Raja was based on Psalm 126:5–6.[11] 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.[10] 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.[4][5]

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.[15]

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.[3]

See also

Further reading
  • Agarwal, Amit (15 January 1993). "TV serial 'Bible Ki Kahaniyan' emphasises more on authenticity than spectacle". India Today.
  • Democratic World. Vol. 21. Gulab Singh & Sons. 1992. pp. 34–36.

Notes
  1. Kerala has a significant Christian minority, especially the historical community of Saint Thomas Christians.[9]
  2. The site of St. Francis Xavier's first missionary activity in India.[13]

References
  1. Ananth Mahadevan (20 July 2020). Once Upon A Prime Time: My Journey on Indian Television. Embassy Books. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-93-89995-09-1.
  2. Maria Francesca Piredda (2005). Film & mission: per una storia del cinema missionario. Ente dello Spettacolo. p. 41. ISBN 978-88-85095-26-7.
  3. "Bible Ki Kahaniyan [4 DVD Set] DVD (1993)". Induna.com.
  4. Bible Ki Kahanya - Story of Isaac, retrieved 18 May 2021
  5. Jacob, retrieved 18 May 2021
  6. "The Third Coming - the Indian Post". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  7. "TV serial 'Bible Ki Kahaniyan' emphasises more on authenticity than spectacle". 15 January 1993. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  8. "Indian television has a long way to go: Kabir Bedi - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com.
  9. Thomas Christians at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  10. "Bible Ki Kahaniya". nettv4u. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  11. Bible Ki Kahaniya - Adam & Eve, retrieved 14 May 2021
  12. Abraham, retrieved 18 May 2021
  13. Tirunelveli. Collins English Dictionary, 12th Edition 2014.
  14. Bible Ki Kahaniya - Noah's Ark, retrieved 19 May 2021
  15. "More mythology on DD's Sunday slot". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
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