[Depicted in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the second major motion picture to be released in the series - directed by Steven Spielburg and produced by George Lucas - debuting in theatres May 23rd, 1984.]
Set one year prior to the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana is delivering the remains of Emperor Nurhaci to Club Obi Wan in Shanghai, China, where the gangster Lao Che has arranged an exchange for a large diamond.
Upon arrival, Indy is introduced to Willie Scott, the club’s singer and Lao Che’s “girlfriend.” Soon after, Indy gets his hands on the diamond and then is poisoned after he sips his drink, leading to his old friend Wu Han (in disguise as a waiter) pulling a gun and threatening to shoot if Lao Che doesn’t hand over the antidote.
Moments later, Wu Han is shot by Lao Che’s son, Chen, leading to an ensuing brawl that finds Indiana and Willie both scrambling on the floor for the diamond and the antidote. Meanwhile, Lao Che’s other son, Kao Kon, is firing a machine gun throughout the nightclub, leaving a desperate jump out of a window as Indy and WIllie’s only chance of survival.
Luckily, they fall into a car driven by Indy’s child sidekick, Short Round, leading to a car chase with Lao Che and Kao Kon right behind them. Although Indy believes they’ve escaped after boarding a cargo plane, it’s soon revealed that the plane is owned by Lao Che, flown by a pilot who’s been instructed to kill them.
Once the pilot abandons the plane leaving them for dead as they slept, all three of them miraculously escape using an inflatable life raft as a parachute, falling onto Mount Humal, a mountain peak in the Himalayas that’s covered in the snow of the Pindari Glacier.
Eventually, they land in white water rapids that leads them to the village of Mayapore, where they learn all the children have been kidnapped by the Thuggee cult and taken into slavery at Pankot Palace.
Additionally, they learn of a sacred stone that’s also been stolen from the village, one of the Sankara Stones, named after a priest who was once awarded the stones by the Hindu god, Shiva, after ascending to the peak of Mount Kalisa. The powerful stones were meant to combat evil, yet without it, the Mayapore village had withered and decayed to a state of near extinction.
After a few days of traveling through the jungles of India by elephant, Indy, Willie, and Short Round arrive at the palace. They meet the Maharajah or Supreme Highness of the palace (named in credits as Zalim Singh), who is only thirteen yet ascended the throne after the mysterious death of his father. They also meet the prime minister, Chattar Lai, who dismisses the claims of the village, and reminds Indy of unflattering rumors around the globe involving his own behalf.
After an unappetizing dinner consisting of live snakes and monkey brains, Indy survives an attack in his room by an assassin, which leads to a discovery of a secret door that takes them to an underground chamber below the palace. It is there where they find a mass ritual taking place, led by the Thuggee high priest, Mola Ram, who is sacrificing a human to the goddess Kali, as well as making all the enslaved children from the village dig for the remaining stones in hopes of ruling the world.
Once captured by the Thuggee, Indy is put under a spell as he’s whipped and tortured into drinking the “blood of Kali Ma,” while Willie is kept for a human sacrifice and Short Round is thrown in with the other children.
Eventually, Short Round helps the three escape after using a torch to break Indy’s entrancement, allowing them to take the stones and free the remaining children.
From there, they escape the tunnels through a mine car race with the Thuggees, leading to a standoff on an old bridge above a crocodile infested river. In an act of courage and desperation, Indiana cuts the rope bridge with his sword, causing many of Mola Ram’s men to fall to their death.
Hanging on to the rope that now scales the mountain, Indiana accuses Mola Ram of betraying Shiva, summoning dark magic that causes the stones to catch fire. As two fall into the Ganges River, Mola Ram reaches out to catch the third, only to be badly burned and fall to his impending death. Conversely, however, Indiana catches the third stone that had now miracualously cooled, as the remaining Thuggee are apprehended by the British Army.
As they triumphantly return to the village with the children and the sacred stone, Willie tells Indy she can’t wait to return to Missouri, while they ceremoniously kiss as Short Round sprays them with an elephant.
Thus whether in spirit or in person, in this adventure Indiana crosses paths with
Nurhaci - the first Emperor of the Manchu Dynasty in China, he united various Jurchen tribes and consolidated the Eight Banners military system that defeated the Ming Dynasty in formation of the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Nurhaci reigned from 1616-1626 until his death on the battlefield.
Thuggee - The english word Thug has Hindi roots and means swindler or deceiver, whereas originally ‘thugs’ were documented to have been prevalent amongst the Indian subcontinent. For context, Sir William Henry Sleeman was a British soldier and administrator in British India, who was best known for suppressing organized criminal gangs known as Thuggee in the 1830s.
Shiva - one of the principal deities of Hinduism, known as the God of Destruction and Destroyer of Evil, as well as the Supreme Being.
Zalim Singh - Whether by convenience or not, in 1896 the New York Times published an article entitled “A BRITISH TYRANT IN INDIA.; Zalim Singh, Maharajah of Jhallawar, Desposed Without a Hearing.” Jhalawar is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
Kali - Hindu goddess of Time, Creation, Destruction and Power. Kali is often portrayed standing or dancing on her consort, the Hindu god Shiva, who lies calm beneath her. She is worshipped by Hindus throughout India and Nepal.
Locations in this adventure are:
Shanghai - China’s biggest city and global financial hub, described as a “showpiece” of the booming economy of the world’s most populous country.
Himalayas - Mountain range in Asia with some of the Earth’s highest peaks, including the highest in Mount Everest. The Himalayas are spread across five countries (Nepal, India, Bhutan, China, and Pakistan), where prominent rivers such as the Indus, Ganges, and Tsangpo-Brahmaputra rise through it servicing the needs of over 600 million people.
Pindari Glacier - Glacier found in the upper reaches of the Kumaon Himalayas, famous for other adventure sports like ice climbing and mountain biking.
Mayapore - Although the village of Mayapore is said to be fictional, it can either be derived from Paul Scott’s novel The Jewel in the Crown (1966) that is set in British India, or perhaps even more likely, the actual neighborhood of Mayapur, located in West Bengal, where the waters of the Jalangi River mix with a distributary of the Ganges.
Ganges - River of Asia that flows through India and Bangladesh, known as the most sacred of the Hindus and home to 140 species of fish and 90 species of reptiles and amphibians.
Missouri - Midwestern state in the United States of America, also known as the “Mother of the West” and the “Show Me State.”
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