Singhasan Battisi

About Singhasan Battisi

The title literally means "thirty-two (tales) of the throne". In the frame story, the 11th century king Bhoja discovers the throne of the legendary ancient king Vikramaditya (also known as Bikramjit). The throne has 32 statues, who are actually apsaras that had been turned into stone due to a curse. Each of the apsaras tells Bhoja a story about the life and adventures of Vikramaditya, in order to convince him that he is not deserving of Vikramaditya's throne.

The original collection, written in Sanskrit, was known as Siṃhāsana Dvātriṃśikā. Other titles for the collection include Dvātriṃśat Puttalikā ("Thirty-two Statue Stories"), Vikrāmaditya Simhāsana Dvātriṃśika ("Thirty-two Tales of the Throne of Vikramaditya"), and Vikrama Charita ("Deeds or Adventures of Vikrama").[1] In modern vernaculars, the collection is known as Singhastan Battisi; other transliterations of the title include Sinhasan Battisi and Simhasan Battisi.