The Katha Lantern

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu is bringing us back into the glittering underground dark — to find out what that enormous, mysterious breathing in the shadows really was, and how Sinbad the Sailor finds his way back to the sun. What do you do when you are alone in the dark, your torch is burning low, and you do not know what is waiting around the corn...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu is opening the golden pages of our Arabian Nights for the most courageous Sinbad adventure we have ever told — a breathtaking, two-part voyage into the deepest darkness and back into the light. Have you ever been somewhere so dark, so unfamiliar, so completely unknown — that the only thing you could do was take a deep b...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern ! On this journey, host Rutu opens up our magical world to share a witty, magnificent tale from the grand courts of ancient India, exploring the power of honesty, fairness, and thinking outside the box. Have you ever encountered a tricky situation where someone was trying to take credit for your hard work, or grab something that wasn't theirs?...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu is exploring one of the most wobbly, heartbreaking feelings a little explorer can experience — being left out by someone bigger, simply because they decided you did not belong. Have you ever felt completely invisible, even when you were standing right there? Inside our newest tale, we travel deep into a magnificent anci...

Welcome back to The Katha Lantern Would you break the rules to protect your child's dream? 🤫✨ Happy Father’s Day to all the fearless, valiant dads out there! In this extra special episode of The Katha Lantern , we are celebrating the incredible superpower of a father's protective love. First, Rutu and Ira discover the wondrous true history of how Father's Day was invented over a hund...

Welcome to The Katha Lantern! Hop aboard our wondrous, flying magic carpet, little explorers! Today, we are soaring high into the fluffy white clouds and flying all the way to a sparkling, sandy ocean shore. In this classic tale from the Arabian Nights , we meet a humble, honest fisherman who casts his net into the deep blue sea. He doesn't pull up a giant fish—instead, he discovers a mysterio...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu and our favorite little explorer, Ira, are solving a wonderfully surprising mystery about what happens when loud, harsh words get in the way of what we want. Have you ever wondered why shouting makes things so much trickier, or what kind of voice actually makes people want to listen to us? Inside our newest tale, we tra...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu is opening our giant, glowing book of ancient Panchatantra tales to solve a wonderfully surprising mystery about knowing when to keep our gleeful words inside. Have you ever wondered how to stay completely quiet when you have something you desperately want to say? Inside our newest tale, we travel to a muddy, drying pon...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu is opening our giant, glowing book of Arabian Nights once again to share a wondrous tale about the magic of true team spirit! Inside our newest tale, we travel to a lush, green island, where our valiant friend Sindbad and his courageous crew are searching for legendary Silver Coconuts! But when hundreds of chattering ap...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu is solving a wonderfully surprising mystery about dealing with a classmate who constantly shows off and asks completely unfair trick questions. Have you ever felt wobbly and outsmarted when someone makes an arrogant demand designed to make you fail? Inside our newest tale, we travel back in time to the magnificent royal...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu is solving a wonderfully surprising mystery about kindness and what to do when people forget to say "thank you." Have you ever wondered if doing a sweet favor is just a waste of time if it goes completely unnoticed? Inside our newest tale, we travel deep into the lush, green Emerald Woods, where a tiny, thirst...

Welcome back to The Katha Lantern! Have you ever met an enchanted wooden horse? What would you do if you climbed onto a shiny toy, twisted a secret dial, and it suddenly zoomed right up into the clouds? Inside our newest tale, we open the giant, glowing book of Arabian Nights to follow young Prince Saad! When a wondrous, black ebony horse takes him on an unexpected high-flying adventure, the rushi...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, Ira brings a very personal puzzle to the studio: her itty-bitty front tooth just fell out, and instead of feeling overjoyed, she feels a little gloomy and downcast about her empty space! To find the magic in growing up, we travel back to the sunlit gardens of Emperor Akbar's grand palace. His young grandson, Prince Khurram (l...

Welcome back to The Katha Lantern! On this journey, we read a Lantern Letter from Lucas about solving furious arguments before the fun disappears. When a magnificent watermelon sits in the middle of a dusty path, Ginger the orange cat and Susie the white cat are both determined to claim the prize! They cannot figure out how to share, until a clever monkey named Monty brings a weighing scale to &qu...

Welcome back to The Katha Lantern! Hop aboard our wondrous magic carpet once again, little explorers! We are soaring straight back to the hidden, rocky canyon to check on our fearless friend, Sinbad the Sailor. After escaping a nest of squawking giant birds, Sinbad has tumbled right into a massive, inescapable valley! The good news? The ground is sparkling with thousands of giant, colorful diamond...

Welcome back to The Katha Lantern little explorers! Hop aboard our wondrous magic carpet, as we are soaring through the clouds and flying back to the sparkling blue ocean to join our valiant friend, Sinbad the Sailor. While cruising on their magnificent ship, the bold crew encounters a legendary, giant bird known as the Roc! When the giant bird swoops down and snatches one of the sailors, Sinbad m...

Welcome to The Katha Lantern! 🏮✨ Inside our special Mother's Day tale, we travel to the magnificent Raigad Fort. When a kind milkmaid named Hirakani is trapped behind the locked fort doors at sunset, she realizes her tiny baby is waiting all alone at the bottom of the mountain! Will the terrifying, wobbly drop down the pitch-black cliff leave her trembling, or will a mother's completely...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu and our favorite little explorer, Ira, are solving a wonderfully surprising mystery from a majestic palace. Have you ever wondered what happens when someone does something completely unthinkable—like daring to pull a mighty king's royal mustache? Inside our newest tale, we travel to the grand court of Emperor Akbar,...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! On this journey, host Rutu and our favorite little explorer, Ira, are opening a brilliant Lantern Letter about what to do when we feel jittery because other people tell us something is just too hard. Have you ever wanted to try something bold, but loud, worried voices made your tummy feel a little wobbly? Inside our newest tale, we travel to the...

Welcome back to the warm glow of The Katha Lantern! For our newest adventure, we are hopping onto a wondrous flying magic carpet and soaring straight into a vast, golden desert. Have you ever felt jittery when you accidentally broke something or made a tiny mistake that turned into a giant problem? Inside our newest tale, a kind and honest merchant stops for a rest at a beautiful oasis. But when h...

Welcome back to The Katha Lantern! What do you do when someone asks you an impossible question? You stay calm, stand tall, and answer with total confidence! 😎✨ Today, we are opening our giant book of royal mysteries and traveling back to the magnificent gardens of Emperor Akbar! When the mischievous Emperor tries to trick his cleverest minister, Birbal, by asking him exactly how many crows are i...

Welcome back to the glow of The Katha Lantern! For our newest adventure, host Rutu and our favorite little explorer, Ira, are opening a brilliant Lantern Letter from a listener named Vikshara. Have you ever encountered someone acting like the grumpy "King of the Playground," refusing to share and getting furiously mad over nothing? To discover how to handle big, boiling feelings and tric...

Welcome back to the glow of The Katha Lantern! Today, host Rutu is taking our little explorers straight back into the magical action! Have you ever worked really hard for something, only to find out there is a surprise second challenge waiting for you at the very end? To figure out what happens next, today's immersive experience takes us back to the royal palace where we left Prince Hussain, P...

Welcome back to the glow of The Katha Lantern! Today, host Rutu is taking our little explorers on a massive adventure. Have you ever wondered what the absolute greatest, most amazing gift in the whole wide world might look like? To find out, today's immersive experience takes us on a journey with three royal brothers—Prince Hussain, Prince Ali, and Prince Ahmad. Their wise King father has give...

Welcome back to The Katha Lantern What happens when your own guilty conscience is the very thing that gives you away? 🤫✨ Today, we are opening our giant book of ancient tales and traveling to the magnificent royal court of Emperor Akbar! When a wealthy merchant’s precious bag of diamonds goes missing, the Emperor calls upon his cleverest minister, Birbal, to solve the mystery. With five suspects...