The story of Halahala Kumar, or The Snake-Prince is an Indian folktale from the region of Odisha, first published in 1901 and later translated to English. The story contains similarities to the Odia story of Shashisena Kavya, published in the 17th century.
The tale is a local form of the international cycle of the Animal as Bridegroom or The Search for the Lost Husband, in that a woman marries a man of supernatural origin (a snake or serpent), loses him and must regain him. The tale also contains tale type AaTh 977, "The Eloping Couple and the Robbers", wherein a protagonist couple flee from their families, find shelter with robbers that kill the male half of the couple, but deities' mercy restores the man to life - a type that the indexes only report in India and South Asia.
Source The tale was originally published by Odia author Madhusudan Rao with the title (). It was later translated to English by author Upendra Narayan Dutta Gupta with the title The Story of Halahala Kumar or The Snake-Prince and to English as Shashisena by Odia writer .
Summary A beggar that belongs to the Chakulia panda order is childless. His wife also sighs over not having a child. Meanwhile, Halahala Kumar, the prince of the Patala where Vasuki lives, goes to the human world as a little snake, wanting to learn the ways of mankind. He slithers in a river next to the place where the beggar was drawing water in a pot, and is brought home with him. When the beggar goes to fetch the water, he finds a newborn human baby, who is the transformed snake-prince. Years pass, the baby, named Abhimanyu, grows up and goes to school with Shashisena, the king's daughter. They begin to develop an interest in each other, and Abhimanyu suggests they elope to another country. The pair take some horses and depart from her father's kingdom until the reach the cottage of an Asuruni with many sons. The Asurani, a man-eating giantess, welcomes the couple into her abode, and Shashisena, suspecting something, overhears her conspiring with her children to devour her and Abhimanyu. Shashisena and Abhimanyu gather some tools and objects from the jungle and trick the giantess's sons by pretending to be her Swasura (father-in-law). Fooling the monsters, the pair take their horses and flee from the Asurani. The Asurani orders her children to pursue the escaping pair, by following a trail of mustard seeds she tied to their horses. On the road, Shashisena and Abhimanyu realize they are being chased, and the youth throws behind some rattan seeds (which become a forest of thick vines), some coals (which create a conflagration) and finally he lets out some breaths behind him to create a mist. The magical obstacles do not deter their pursuers, so Abhimanyu brandishes his sword and kills six of the seven Asurani's sons, save for the youngest, named Tima, whom they spare and make their servant.
After a while, they stop to rest: Shashisena prepares their food, while Abhimanyu goes for a swim in a pond. Tima, pretending to help him, kills him with a sword, then puts on his clothes and goes to eat Shashisena's food. The princess notices that the voracity of her companion was strange, and orders Tima to lead her to Abhimanyu. Tima guides her to his corpse, and is promptly beheaded for his treason. Shashisena cries over the body of her fallen lover, which Durga and Siva (Ishvara and Parvati in another translation) hear and come to her aid: Siva sprinkles his body with flower and water, and revives Abhimanyu. Later, the duo go to another city, where Abhimanyu is transformed into a ram by the works of a Maluni girl, and Shashisena, pretending to be a man, kills a rampaging Gayala (Gandagayala) and wins the hand of the local king's daughter. Still in male disguise, Shashisena says she made a vow not to consummate the marriage until after twelve months, while she tries to buy time to search for Abhimanyu: she tells the king a story that Siva decided that people from nearby regions should come to his shrine on Baruni-day for purification, a lie that the Raja believes. This eventually leads to Shashisena rescuing Abhimanyu and the killing of the Maluni witch-girl (called Gyana Dei).
Abhimanyu then marries the two princesses and the live together. However, after some time, one of his serpent-wives, from the Nether-world, missing her husband, changes shape to that of a Savari woman who has come to sell Amama fruits to the princess's household. The false Savari says the fruits can grant immortality, but their husband is already immortal - a thing they should ask Abhimanyu themselves. The princesses ask Abhimanyu to tell them the truth, and he takes them to the riverbank. He warns them not to question the truth of his name, but they insist and press on the matter. Thus, he goes near the water, says his name is Halahala Kumar from Patala (from the "Land of Cobras" or "Nagaloka", in another translation), and vanishes into the water as a snake. The princesses cry for him and, noticing they ate the Amara fruits, swim after him and reach the Nether-world, the domain of king Vasuki. Down below, they realize they must earn Vasuki's favour, and do so by ingraining into their court with their dancing prowess. They do a dance number before Vasuki and his court, which greatly impresses the monarch he proposes to reward both women. Shashisena then asks for the prince as reward. Vasuki agrees, but sets a condition: Halahala Kumar shall alternate between his human wives and serpent spouses six months each. His terms are agreed upon, and the human princesses depart Patala with Abhimanyu. The princesses' kingdoms are united as one, and the girls look forward to spending six months with their co-husband.
Analysis Tale type In Stith Thompson and Warren Roberts's Types of Indic Oral Tales, the tale is classified under its own Indic type, 425D Ind, "Search for Serpent Husband": the heroine marries a man of mysterious origin; jealous women probe her into asking his name or origins; he reveals it and turns into a snake; after many hardships, she reunites with him.
The middle part of the story, where the pair meets the thieves, Abhimanyu is killed, but the deities revive him, is classified as another tale type found in India, which was incorporated in Thompson's 1961 revision of the international Aarne-Thompson Index. In this type, AaTh 977, "The Eloping Couple and the Robbers", a prince and princess elope and eventually take shelter with a band of robbers, which chase after them and kill the prince; the princess mourns for her lover, when gods heed her cries and restore him; later, the prince is turned into an animal by a witch.Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. p. 344. However, German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther, in his 2004 revision of the international index, discontinued the typing.
Motifs The snake husband According to Stith Thompson and study of motifs of Indian literature and oral folklore, the tale contains the motifs B604.1 "Marriage to snake"Thompson, S., Balys, J. (1958). The oral tales of India. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 80. and D391 "Transformation: serpent (snake) to person".Thompson, S., Balys, J. (1958). The oral tales of India. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 103. In Indian (especially in Odia) folktales, the snake is capable of shapeshifting, and can bear human babies.
The husband's vanishing In his work about Cupid and Psyche and other Animal as Bridegroom tales, Swedish scholar identified that, in certain tales, the heroine causes her supernatural husband's disappearance by inquiring his name. Swahn named this motif The Name Taboo and surmised that it occurred "primarily in India".Swahn, Jan Öjvind. The Tale of Cupid and Psyche. Lund, C.W.K. Gleerup. 1955. pp. 238, 251. In Thompson and Roberts's Types of Indic Oral Tales, this motif appears in Indic type 425D Ind, "Search for Serpent Husband": the heroine insists to know her husband's caste or name, and he, in return, gives her an answer, but vanishes in the water like a snake.Thompson, Stith; Roberts, Warren Everett. Types of Indic Oral Tales: India, Pakistan, and Ceylon. Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1960. p. 63. This episode corresponds with motifs C32.2., "Tabu: questioning supernatural husband"; C32.2.1, "Tabu: asking name of supernatural husband"; C32.2.2, "Tabu: asking where supernatural husband comes from", and C32.2.3, "Tabu: asking for caste of supernatural husband."Thompson, S., Balys, J. (1958). The oral tales of India. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 85.
The sorcerous florist According to Indian scholars, the Jyana Dei appears as a sorcerous character in Odia folktales. She appears as part of a group of seven maidens, called Tantrasadhikas or tantrikas, who practiced a form of Vajrayana (the Tantric form of Buddhism) in a region called Kuanri Patna or Kumari Patna: Gyana Dei Maluni (or Jyanadadei, or Gyanadei Maliani), Netei Dhobani, Lahukuti Lahuruni, Sukuti Chamaruni, Sua Teluni, Gangi Gauduni (or Gangei Gouduni), and Patarapindhi Sauruni.
Relation to Shashisena Kavya The main plot of the work Shashisena Kavya is considered to be derived from a folktale. Shri Janakibhallav Mohanty argued that it was an adaptation of the story Hala Hala Kumar, a popular theme in Odisha.
Variants Tale of Shashisena