Indian folklore is exorbitant and rich keeping in pace with the huge diversities and variation. Although India is a multi- lingual and multi -religious nation, a unity is easily identified. Hinduism is widely practiced and multiple practices of folk culture and religion are nicely enmeshed into it. The myths, arduous beliefs on magical qualities and supernatural practices, social norms have become an inevitable part of the Indian folklore.

What is even more interesting is that through generations Indian folklores are transmitted and gestated verbally. There is hardly any documentation found. It was only during the British period that the efforts have been taken to preserve Indian folklore in its original shape and format. Rudyard Kipling deserves kudos for his effort and dedication in this regard. He spent a great deal of his life in India, and was familiar with the Hindi language. His highly acclaimed works namely two Jungle Books include an immense deal of stories. These were written following the tradition of Indian folk life. Indian themes also appear in his Just So Stories, and several characters bear familiar Indian names. During the same period, Helen Bannerman wrote India-based tale of Little Black Sambo. The anthropologists and historians undertook more efforts to carry on research to protect and preserve the irreplaceable treasures of Indian folklore. Forms of folklore are wide and self -encompassing. These are as follows

Folk Art: These are exquisite and opulent. Various schools of art namely the Rajsthani School , Mughal school, , have unique way of color combinations or figures and its features. Other famous folk art forms comprise of Madhubani paintings from Bihar ;Warli paintings from Maharashtra; Tanjore paintings from South India are the masterpieces.

Folk Tales: It includes sagas of folk heroes, narrative stories, epic poems. These are communicated and conserved in Sanskrit and other vernacular languages. An oral epic poem tells the tale of Pabuji is quite lengthy, written in Rajasthani language and are being told by a group of expert narrators called Bhopas. The title character was a historical figure, a Rajput prince, who has been deified in Rajasthan. Other famous folktales are the Panchatantra, a collection of traditional narratives made by Vishnu Sharma in the second century BC. The Hitopadesha of Narayana is a collection of animal fables, compiled in Sanskrit in the 19th century.

Folk heroes: Indian folk heroes are most popular. Different tribal populace of India idiolise their own folk heroes , thus making the list of folk heroes of Indian folklore really comprehensive The Santals have their culture hero "Beer kherwal" and "Bidu Chandan". Gonds have their folk hero "Chital Singh Chatri". Banjara folk hero is "Lakha Banjara" or "Raja Isalu". Moreover the contributions of heroines of Indian folklore are also noteworthy in enriching the Indian culture. Banjara epics are heroine-oriented. These epics replicate the "sati" sect. Folk heroes are some times deified and are worshipped in the vilage. The verbal epic tales of Kalahandi region, are narrated by the folk singers during religious and social functions.

Folk games: Indian Folklore has a tresure of games and plays.Their origin dates back to the golden era of Mughals and other imperial rules. Fewof the famous `board games` have developed from the traditional games of Indian society. These are Chess, Ludo and Snakes and Ladders and still are widely popular among the people of India. Another special category of indoor game is "ganjifa". It is a spherical dyed pile of colored and round shaped card like thing, which were fiddled following specific set of rules.

Folk deities: Indian folklore is ennobled by its list of folk deities, highly revered by the Indian folkies. Banu bibi, Manashi, Ola bibi are noteworthy.

Indian folklore is a treasure house of exuberant cultural elements of folk societies of India. Its heritage of music, heroic tales, cuisine, clothings, art etc contributes to the plethora of India`s ethnicity and tradition.