Vetala Panchavimshati

One of its oldest recensions is found in the 12th book of the Kathasaritsagara ("Ocean of the Streams of Story"),[3] a work in Sanskrit compiled in the 11th century by Somadeva, but based on yet older materials, now lost.

[4] Several English translations exist, based on Sanskrit recensions and on Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi versions.

[6] The legendary king Vikramāditya (Vikrama) promises a vamachari (a tantric sorcerer) that he will capture a vetala, who hangs upside-down from a tree and inhabits and animates dead bodies.

The vetala suggests that the king asks the tantric how to perform his obeisance, then take advantage of that moment to behead the sorcerer himself.

It was adapted into 1951 Hindi film Jai Maha Kali (Vikram Vaital) by Dhirubhai Desai starring Lalita Pawar, Nirupa Roy, Shahu Modak, Raj Kumar, and S. N. Tripathi.

The 2017 Tamil film Vikram Vedha was a modern-day adaptation of the story with the characterization of King Vikramaditya and the celestial spirit Vetala derived from that plot.

In 1985, the story was developed by Sagar Films as a television serial[8] titled Vikram aur Betaal, starring Arun Govil as Vikrama and Sajjan Kumar as the Vetala.

A remake of that serial by the new generation of Sagar Films, titled Kahaniyaan Vikram aur Betaal Ki, was aired on the Indian satellite channel Colors.

He tells how thousands of years ago, King Vikrama had set off to defeat the Vetala, a vampire jinn terrorizing one of his villages.

[10] Both the Kṣemendra and Somadeva recensions derive from the unattested "Northwestern" Bṛhatkathā, and include the Vetala Tales as a small part of their huge inventory.

[11] This was a popular work that played an early role in the development of Literary Hindi and was selected as a Hindustani test-book for military service students in the East India Company.